According to the British "Daily Telegraph" reported on February 25, Jim Ratcliffe, British billionaire and founder of chemical giant Ineos, warned in a letter to European lawmakers that because of soaring energy costs and the impact of green taxes, European chemical producers are at risk of collapse, and Europe must impose tariffs on Chinese imports like the United States. Or you'll end up with nothing.
Ineos has eight factories in China. Ratcliffe cited Ineos's large ethylene plant in Cologne, Germany, which spends 100 million euros more on gas and 40 million euros more on electricity than comparable plants in the United States. In addition, the plant will have to pay a carbon tax bill of nearly 100 million euros.
Jim Ratcliffe, founder of chemicals giant Ineos
"In the face of such a huge disadvantage, the industry is in crisis, not investing for future growth, but fighting for survival," he told lawmakers.
"The government's policy will lead to the closure of all chemical companies in Europe." Ratcliffe said that Europe's green transition policy will have serious consequences - Europe will import all of its raw materials from the United States and China, which will benefit greatly.
"It would be foolish to decarbonise Europe through deindustrialisation. We will lose jobs and security, and CO2 will drift back to Europe anyway."
Ratcliffe said lawmakers needed to act urgently to stop Europe's chemical industry "dying out."
"The solution is to eliminate the carbon tax and provide the industry with competitive energy that incentivizes growth and the clean-tech transition." "While these changes are being implemented, we also need to put up tariff barriers or we will have nothing," he said.
"This is exactly what the US has done, they value industry and the high-value jobs it brings, and they are leaving Europe far behind."
Mr Ratcliffe complained that Europe's politicians had "repeatedly failed to act" to save the chemicals industry, which was "hugely important to the success of the European economy in the last century" and as big as the car industry.
Ratcliffe's warning comes as the EU prepares to unveil details of a new "clean industry agreement" designed to help energy-intensive companies transition to green energy.
The package is expected to include new support for the chemicals sector, which EU politicians have called the "mother of all industries" because of its importance to other sectors.
In recent months, chemical producers have warned of a looming crisis due to soaring gas prices, carbon taxes in the UK and Europe, as well as weak demand and so-called "overcapacity" from China.
Earlier this month, The Telegraph reported that cabinet officials had also been warned that the domestic chemical industry was being pushed to the brink of collapse, with hundreds of jobs at two UK plants at stake.
A letter from the Chemical Industry Association, backed by Ineos and other companies, warned that more plant closures were inevitable unless the UK became more competitive.
It follows news that Ineos last year announced plans to close Scotland's last oil refinery, which is jointly owned by Ineos and the Chinese company.
Yara, the Norwegian chemical giant, has also mothballed an ammonia plant in Hull, while another plant in Wales operated by Dow, the US chemical giant, is similarly threatened with downsizing.
In response to frequent calls for higher taxes on China, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed that we always believe that there is no winner in a trade war and a tariff war, and China has always firmly upheld its national interests.