EU’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles spark opposition from many parties

“Trade conflicts will only bring losers!” Hildegard Mueller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, told Xinhua News Agency on the 4th that the EU’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles will have an adverse impact on the European automotive industry, and even cause European manufacturers to import products from China to Europe at a higher tax rate than other countries’ products exported to Europe, which is very unreasonable.

The European Commission announced on the 4th that the proposal to impose tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China has received necessary support from member states. Once the decision was announced, it was opposed by many parties in Europe.

Mueller emphasized that Europe’s prosperity benefited from global trade, and the EU’s current actions went against the trend, which meant that global cooperation had once again regressed. She called on all parties to work hard to resolve differences through dialogue and cooperation, avoid escalation of the situation, and prevent potential trade conflicts.

“Hurt yourself”, “There are a hundred harms and no benefits”, “It will only bring losers”… Before and after the vote of EU member states, people from all walks of life in Europe clearly voiced their opposition. The voting results showed that the number of EU members who supported the imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles was far lower than the number of EU members who voted against and abstained. It can be seen that the anti-subsidy investigation initiated by the European Commission is not widely supported, but is based on the EU’s rules of procedure and has not been overturned.

It is reported that Spain abstained from voting in this vote. Carlos Cuerpo, Minister of Economy, Trade and Commerce of Spain, said that the EU must continue negotiations with China to find a solution, “We want to establish a positive and constructive relationship with China, one of our major strategic partners.”

Major European automakers such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz have emphasized that imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles is a “wrong approach” and “fatal” to the European auto industry. The Metal Industry Union, the largest German trade union organization, and the major automakers’ enterprise unions said in a statement that the imposition of tariffs will not increase the competitiveness of the European auto industry, and hope to create a fair competition environment through negotiations.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce of China said on the 4th that Chinese electric vehicles adhere to market dominance and full competition, and through continuous independent innovation, they have increased the high-quality supply of green public products in the world and made important contributions to the global response to climate change. The EU’s protectionist practices seriously violate WTO rules and disrupt the normal international trade order. They not only hinder China-EU trade and investment cooperation and delay the EU’s own green transformation process, but will also affect the world’s joint efforts to address climate change.