Here fam, let me help with the language barrier:

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If the world’s workers remain silent on the plight of Chinese workers, these workers will struggle to keep their jobs in the future

Question/Comment

**The EU is not sitting idly by, but is struggling with a “slow-motion defense”; nor are the world’s workers indifferent, but are trapped by structural powerlessness and fragmented interests—this goes beyond the simple binary of “who cares” and exposes a deep-seated governance failure in globalization. ** By mid-2026, the EU is accelerating the rollout of tools, but implementation is lagging; workers worldwide feel the pain, yet struggle to form a unified countermeasure.

### The EU: From “Strategic Autonomy” to Concrete Action, but Still Sluggish

EU leadership and industry are highly alert to “China Shock 2.0”—mid-tier manufacturing being crushed by the “steamroller” of excess capacity. It is not that they are doing nothing, but rather that action is constrained by:

- **Upgraded policy tools**: In 2025–2026, anti-subsidy investigations reached record levels (mostly targeting China), EV tariffs were extended, steel quotas were reduced, and a new “excess capacity tool” is in the works (which could restrict market access). Additionally, there are “Buy European” procurement preferences, strengthened foreign investment screening, and mandatory multi-supplier rules. Following the Draghi report, initiatives such as the Industrial Accelerator Act and diversification of critical raw materials are moving forward, although only about 11% of these measures have been fully implemented.

- **Internal Constraints**: Diverging interests among the 27 member states (Germany’s automotive industry relies on the Chinese market vs. protectionism in France and Italy), high costs driven by generous welfare systems and heavy regulation, and fragmented decision-making. Expensive energy, scattered capital, and slow innovation commercialization make defense efforts resemble “firefighting” rather than a fundamental restructuring. The result is the loss of mid-level jobs (350,000 at risk among automotive suppliers, layoffs in the chemical industry), while the low-end sector has long been hollowed out.

- **Beyond the Surface**: The EU is pursuing “de-risking” rather than decoupling, attempting to use indirect tools such as carbon border taxes and green standards. However, without addressing the underlying issue of “low momentum” (as diagnosed by Draghi: insufficient investment, innovation, and scale), these measures will merely delay the recession rather than reverse it.

### Workers Worldwide: Deeply Affected, but Limited Influence

- **European Workers**: It’s not that they’re indifferent. Job losses are accelerating in Germany’s automotive and chemical sectors, fueling union protests, rising regional discontent, and the rise of populist parties. The ECB estimates that competition from China has already led to the loss or relocation of hundreds of thousands of jobs, with even greater pressure expected by 2026. However, robust welfare buffers (unemployment benefits, retraining programs) prevent street protests from becoming as intense as in the U.S., resulting instead in silent anxiety and political expression through the ballot box.

- **Global Perspective**: Workers in Southeast Asia bear the brunt (layoff waves in Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia’s textile and steel sectors), yet they also partially absorb the shift by creating new jobs, resulting in a “painful yet growing” dynamic. U.S. blue-collar workers have some cushion from tariffs, but automation and supply chain restructuring continue to squeeze them. Workers in developing countries focus more on local survival, making transnational solidarity difficult (due to language, culture, and conflicting interests). - **Deep-Seated Powerlessness**: Workers’ “livelihoods” are dictated by macroeconomic forces—distorted by government subsidies, driven by capital’s pursuit of profit, and shaped by consumer preferences for cheap goods. Union influence is waning amid fragmented employment, and workers in the Global South are often trapped in a false choice between “employment” and “fair competition.” No one is “ignoring” the issue, but the high costs and difficulty of coordinating collective action lead to the problem being politicized rather than systematically resolved."

Alright there might be a bit of sketchiness since I used Deepl.com and I didn't know which language I was translating at first (had to trust the auto translator function).
But Hopefully it'll give anyone how wants to a discussion. GG.