(ANSA) - Europe and Italy must move to "defend" themselves against increasingly tough competition of Chinese products, Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said on Thursday.
"The Chinese are just doing their job and, from their point of view, going about it rather well. We - Italy and Europe - are the ones making the mistakes," Tremonti said during a TV news interview.
Europe should follow the US's lead and "defend its workers and its products," said the minister stressing that this was not a new type of "protectionism" but "a question of applying the right rules."
"The rules I'm talking about are costs. Our industries are forced to work with their hands tied behind their back. But there are no rules on imported goods...so how can they compete?"
"Defending yourself is not protectionism. Another point is that we simply have to get more capital investments."
