By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Olli Rehn said on Wednesday that the ECB was seeing a growing influx of low-priced goods into Europe and that China had been increasing its exports to the bloc.
In an interview with CNBC, Rehn, who heads the Bank of Finland, said that if the Federal Reserve’s independence were to be threatened it would be “certainly dangerous” and could generate a structural rise of inflation given the systemic importance of the US in the global economy.
He said this would “certainly have global ramifications” and “Europe would have to take that into account in our decisions to safeguard price stability and economic stability more broadly.”
Asked about his view on the balance of risks in the Eurozone, Rehn said that the economy had been significantly resilient in 2025 and inflation was close to the 2% target.
“Growth has kept up rather well, close to the growth potential of Europe, even though we would want to see the European economy more dynamic,” he said. “We need stronger productivity growth and stronger industrial competitiveness in Europe.”
The US trade war has been indirectly affecting Europe, he said, pointing to evidence of a rising influx of low-priced Chinese products into the region. “There has been a clear increase of Chinese imports exports in the European markets,” he added.
He noted that this was the reason why the ECB was “concerned about trade policies,” but also about industrial competitiveness.
“All of this is one factor when we consider our monetary policy decisions, which we do meeting by meeting, dependent on data and practicing always full freedom of action and comprehensive judgement,” he said.
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