Trade retaliation

China's commerce ministry has threatened investigations into the EU or its businesses and reciprocal measures in response to the European Union's January 2026 cybersecurity proposal, which could designate China a 'cybersecurity threat' and list firms like Huawei and ZTE as 'high-risk suppliers' for mandatory removal from 5G networks. The warning comes amid the EU's push to phase out such vendors from telecom, hi-tech sectors, and critical infrastructure within three years.