BANGKOK (AP) — China and the European Union are open to talks over the EU’s recent decision to sharply increase tariffs on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles, officials on both sides say.
China’s Commerce Ministry and Germany’s Economic Minister said last weekend that both sides are willing to talk about the issue. Meanwhile, Chinese state media said on Monday that Beijing is pushing for the EU to abandon plans to sharply increase preliminary tariffs on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles by July 4.
Escalating the trade dispute over Beijing’s subsidies as Brussels’ concerns hurt European carmakers, the EU plans to impose provisional tariffs of 17.4% to 38.1% on electric vehicles for four months from July 4 vehicles from China. This is in addition to the 10% duties on all imported EVs. They would apply to vehicles exported to Europe by both Chinese and foreign brands, including Tesla.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said preliminary results from a study on Chinese EV subsidies showed the country’s battery-electric vehicle “value chain” is benefiting from “unfair subsidies” that are hurting EU rivals.
Trade Minister Wang Wentao held a video conference with Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Trade, China’s Commerce Ministry said in a message on its website on Saturday.
“The two sides agreed to start consultations on the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles,” the report said.
“The doors are open for discussions. And I hope this message was heard,” German economics and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said on Sunday during a visit to China.
China’s Commerce Ministry on Thursday accused the EU of making unreasonable demands in its investigation into imports of Chinese electric vehicles before announcing a hike in tariffs by as much as 38%.
Ministry spokesman He Yadong said the European side had demanded excessive amounts of information from Chinese carmakers and then wrongly accused the Chinese companies of not cooperating.
Beijing said last week it was launching an anti-dumping investigation into pork exports from Europe. When announcing this, the Commerce Department made no mention of EV tariffs. But the investigation into various pork products was widely seen as a response to EU measures on electric cars.
The European side has said it wants to discuss the findings of its investigation with Chinese authorities to find ways to resolve the problems.
