AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)11/24 Report--

Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament's Trade Committee, said in an interview that the EU must readjust its competition policy after Trump enters the White House, at least in a tariff dispute over Chinese electric cars. Bernd Lange said that the EU's economic system not only faces the risk of being dependent on China, the EU is also in a complex value chain system. In other words, China is expected to reach a consensus with the European Union on the elimination of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

On October 4th, EU member states voted and passed a proposal to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. The European Commission's proposal to impose tariffs on Chinese imports of pure electric vehicles has won the necessary support of EU member states, according to a statement issued by the European Commission (hereinafter referred to as "the European Commission"). Decided to impose tariffs of up to 45% on electric vehicles imported from China.

According to the draft, BYD will be levied 17 per cent countervailing duty on the three Chinese car companies sampled by the EU, Geely Motor will be levied 18.8 per cent countervailing duty and SAIC will be levied 35.3 per cent countervailing duty. Other Chinese car companies that do not accept a sample survey but cooperate with the EU investigation will be subject to a countervailing duty of 20.7 per cent, while other Chinese car companies that do not cooperate with the EU investigation will be subject to a countervailing duty of 35.3 per cent. It should be noted that this is a maximum tariff of 35.3% in addition to the original 10% tariff.

Germany, which has benefited a lot from working with China in the automotive field, has the loudest opposition. German Federal Chancellor Schultz said he hopes to negotiate with China to resolve the EU dispute over the imposition of temporary countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles. German Federal Finance Minister Lindner said it was wrong for the European Commission to put forward a proposal for temporary countervailing duties "in this way" and that a trade war with China would do more harm than good to the European auto industry.

According to a CCTV report, Hildegard Muller, president of the German Association of Automobile Manufacturers, also issued a statement on October 29th local time, saying that the EU's imposition of tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China is a retrogression in global free trade. it has a negative impact on European prosperity, employment and economic growth. Mr Muller warned that the move could increase the risk of trade conflicts and eventually damage the industry as a whole.

On October 30, in response to a reporter's question on the final findings of the EU's anti-subsidy investigation on electric vehicles in China, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce of China said: "We have taken note of the announcement issued by the European side. The Chinese side has repeatedly pointed out that there are many unreasonable and irregularities in the EU's countervailing investigation of electric vehicles in China, which is a protectionist practice of "unfair competition" in the name of "fair competition". China does not agree with and does not accept the outcome of the ruling and has filed a lawsuit under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. China will continue to take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises. "

After the EU decided to impose tariffs on Chinese electric cars, there are also rumors in the market that brands such as Xiaopeng and Geely are in separate contact with the EU. The Ministry of Commerce said that Chinese car companies need to contact and negotiate with the EU at a unified level, and a single car company cannot negotiate with them, which provides conditions for us to get better results. A spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said that from November 2 to 7, the China-EU technical team held five rounds of consultations in Beijing and made some progress in in-depth exchanges on the specific contents of the EU's price commitment plan for electric vehicles in China. The two sides agreed to continue consultations by video or other means.

With Trump taking office, Europe may face more difficulties, and it is reasonable to liberalize tariffs on imports of Chinese electric cars into EU countries, and it has yet to be officially announced whether the two sides can achieve the desired results. The EU's imposition of tariffs on electric vehicles from China is not conducive to the decision-making of both sides. On the contrary, the EU's abolition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles not only helps to promote trade and economic cooperation between China and the EU, but also brings new vitality to the global electric vehicle market.

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