German Bankruptcies Hit a 21-Year High as Europe Confronts a Second China Shock

German corporate insolvencies reached their highest second-quarter level in more than two decades, with 4,996 companies filing in April through June, up 9 percent from the prior quarter, according to the Halle Institute for Economic Research. The Israeli financial outlet Globes reported that Berlin attributes much of the strain to a surge in Chinese exports, and that Germany and France are now leading an effort inside the European Union for broad tariffs and subsidies to protect European producers.

The Financial Times described the same pressure on Britain, reporting that the United Kingdom is less exposed than some Group of Seven partners but not immune to a large volume of cheap Chinese manufactured goods. The accounts describe a consistent pattern. A weak Chinese domestic economy is pushing its industrial surplus abroad, and Europe's higher-cost producers are absorbing the difference through lost orders and closures.

The insolvencies also involve energy costs. German industry has faced elevated power costs since it phased out Russian oil and gas. The recent increase in crude prices tied to the Iran war raises input costs further at a particularly difficult time for firms already competing against subsidized Chinese output.