Opinion

Europe’s chemical industry is in free fall — America's could be next

Some 37 million tons of production capacity have disappeared since 2022 as plant closures doubled across the continent

By Ken Lane Fox News

Published April 16, 2026 5:00am EDT

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Europe’s chemical industry is quietly unraveling, and Americans should be paying very close attention. What is happening across the Atlantic is not simply a story of industrial decline. It is a warning sign for the United States about what happens when overregulation collides with global competition, especially from China. If Washington does not act, the same pressures now hollowing out Europe’s chemical base could undermine America’s position as a global chemical producer over the next decade. After all, it is just as true in the United States as it is in Europe that excessive regulation combined with a flood of Chinese imports is a double hit few industries can withstand for long.

The numbers alone are staggering. A recent story in the Financial Times disclosed that investment in Europe’s chemicals sector fell more than 80% in 2025, collapsing from 1.9 million tons of new capacity in 2024 to just 0.3 million tons last year. At the same time, plant closures doubled. Since 2022, around 20,000 jobs have been directly affected, and 37 million tons of production capacity – representing ~9% of Europe’s chemical production capacity – have disappeared. What we are witnessing is the structural decline........

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