"It has nothing to do with decarbonization and everything with them having no idea how to compete."
So they lost all the ideas since the 1980s or so, when they were top of the heap?
Maybe, but increasing cost of inputs has more than nothing to do with economic balance of any business. Even regular households feel the increase in heating and electricity costs. A factory which needs orders of magnitude more energy will feel them even more.
Cheap energy is very important to any industry, no way around it. That is why China builds so many power stations.
No, it's just that Chinese and Indian steel is produced in ways that would not work in the EU (or even the US). The main reasons are (1) a disregard for environmental damage (2) state subsidies (more so for China than for India) (3) a disregard for safety.
The playing field simply isn't level, the ideas are there, the technologies are there but you can't compete if the competition is not bound in the same way.
While this might have been/is true for China, that country is speed running when it comes to automation and "green" in general. I wouldn't be surprised if they are on par in environmental concerns to the EU in a few years. People forget but the country only stopped taking garbage in 2017: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%27s_waste_import_ban
> The playing field simply isn't level
It never was. European and Western countries had a significant head start. There should be a "right for CO2 emission" per capita offered for countries that didn't industrialize and are way behind. And exported CO2 shouldn't count.
All true. China is moving at a very high speed, but they are still more than capable of killing competition in a way that would not be legal for instance in the EU between EU countries. Clearly they are not bound by the same rules but we'll all pay the price for this eventually.
China isnt super magical or anything, they can be emulated. I think they're a prime example of when and where central economic planning can work. Other countries can do that for specific industries, like energy, if they want.
So they lost all the ideas since the 1980s or so, when they were top of the heap?
Maybe, but increasing cost of inputs has more than nothing to do with economic balance of any business. Even regular households feel the increase in heating and electricity costs. A factory which needs orders of magnitude more energy will feel them even more.
Cheap energy is very important to any industry, no way around it. That is why China builds so many power stations.