In her State of the Union address, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a competition investigation into market distortions caused by Chinese subsidies for EVs. Beijing’s reaction was swift: it was „very concerned and dissatisfied“ with the EU Commission, saying it was displaying „sheer protectionism“. However, the question of whether China is engaging in unfair competition with the subsidies and whether anti-subsidy duties are appropriate is not so easy to answer, analyzes Felix Lee.