More than 100 major European companies have just launched the “Antwerp Declaration,” in which they jointly call on the European Union to relax carbon restrictions, lower energy costs and expand domestic mining for resources. The companies span the width of the economy – from chemicals to pharmaceutical to engineering firms.

Without such relief, the companies warn that European car companies could become endangered species. China has leveraged massive amounts of state aid and loans to flood the continent with Electric Vehicles that create a new reality: “sites are being closed, production halted, people let go… Europe needs a business case urgently.”

For once, the companies are not emphasizing raising tariffs to fight the Chinese, though the Declaration does make an unfortunate call for a government-subsidized  “Clean Tech Deployment Fund.” They are on firmer ground when they emphasize that China has vastly lower power costs while European prices have soared – in large part because offshore oil fields have been capped and fracking all but banned everywhere.

Luca de Meo, CEO of the French car maker Renault, notes that “with the internal combustion engine, our leadership was undisputed…and it was a barrier to entry for newcomers. Today, Europeans find themselves in a position of relative fragility”. Car makers point out that under current EU law, the sale of gas cars will be banned in 2035, thus ceding the Chinese a wide-open playing field.

America is now following in Europe’s footsteps.

We need an anti-net zero business revolt here in the U.S.