Assessing the dependency of Finland and the  EU on Chinese imports

This policy brief provides an overview of Finland’s dependency on imports from China in both a national and EU context. As trade figures based on value added only provide a rough notion of China’s contribution to final consumption, we also consider import dependence from the goods imports figures of Finnish Customs to assess import dependence directly for specific product groups. As many products of Chinese origin are imported as semifinished goods or components for products finished in another EU country, we break down also the import dependency of the EU on China by specific product groups. We then compare Finland’s domestic production of select industrial product groups against comparable imports from China. We analyze Finland’s dependence on China for critical raw materials and identify potential alternative sources for key product groups for which
Finland and the EU are currently dependent on China.

Sisällysluettelo

Abstract....3
1. Introduction....4
2. How much do foreign trade figures tell us about import dependency?....5
3. Trade in Value Added....6
4. The EU’s import dependence on China....8
4.1. Machinery, equipment & transport vehicles....10
4.2. Raw materials....12
4.3. Textiles and household goods....15
5. Finland’s dependency on Chinese imports....17
5.1. Machinery, equipment & transport vehicles....21
5.2. Raw materials....23
5.3. Textiles and household goods....25
6. Finland’s critical dependencies on Chinese imports and possibilities for substitution....27
6.1. Finland’s import dependency on raw materials deemed critical by the EU....28
6.2. Industrial products imported from China and domestic production....30
6.3. High-dependency Chinese commodities that can be sourced elsewhere....32
7. Conclusions....34
Appendix....36