A quem aproveita o proteccionismo? - II

Não é só nas alfândegas portuguesas que se acumulam produtos que os importadores não conseguem colocar na distribuição, não podendo, por isso os consumidores a eles acederem. O mesmo se passa em toda a UE. Na BBC:

With around 50 million sweaters and 17 million pairs of trousers already detained, big name stores across the continent are increasingly anxious that these Chinese-made clothes are released in time to prepare for the Christmas rush. And now T-shirts and bras have also joined the list of products that have reached their EU quota limits.

Não só os consumidores europeus são prejudicados por não poderem aceder a produtos mais baratos, podendo assim dispersar o seu rendimento entre outros consumos (ou aumentando as suas aplicações em poupanças), mas também os chineses o são por os fabricantes estarem já a despedir pessoal (também estes ficam com o rendimento diminuido e com menor possibilidade de consumir, p.ex., produtos europeus).
No Telegraph:

Mr Mandelson [EU trade commissioner] admitted this week that there had been a "serious glitch" in the way the curbs had been enforced. He also said the quotas had been imposed to soothe "extreme public fears" in Europe, acknowledging that the motive was chiefly political.

EU trade officials began talks in China yesterday to find a way out of the immediate chaos, but there is little they can do beyond tinkering with quota deadlines until EU states can agree among themselves on the basic policy. The chief dispute is between the free-trade bloc of Holland, Scandinavia and Germany, and the textile producing states of the Mediterranean belt and eastern Europe.

France has sided with the southern tier to protect jobs in its former colonies in North Africa, chiefly to slow migration and to halt the spread of Islamic radicalism.