#长文创作激励计划#欧盟委员会在官网上宣布: "The EU's countervailing investigation into Chinese electric vehicles will continue until November 2, at which time clear tariffs may be imposed, usually for five years. But from July 5, the EU will impose temporary tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to deal with unfair competition caused by "subsidies".
It is reported that Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD faces temporary punitive tariffs of 17.4%, Geely Automobile 19.9%, and SAIC Motor 37.6%. On top of that, foreign brands such as Tesla and BMW that leave China will also face a 20.8% tariff increase.
From 2019 to the present, the market share of Chinese car brands in the EU has increased from 1% to 8%, and EU authorities estimate that this figure could reach 15% by 2025. The EU argues that China's so-called "high subsidies" have led to the cost of producing electric vehicles to be depressed, thus creating distorted market competition, and that China's entry into the EU market could squeeze domestic automakers out of the market if not controlled.
EU-China relations
Since mid-June this year, the European Union has notified major Chinese automakers that they will impose temporary countervailing duties. In the past month, China and Europe have actively held several rounds of consultation and dialogue at the technical level, but it seems that the consultation and dialogue between the two sides have not yet achieved results.
Regarding the EU's imposition of temporary tariffs, He Yadong, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said that China has repeatedly expressed strong opposition to the EU's anti-subsidy investigation of China's electric vehicles, and advocates properly handling economic and trade frictions through dialogue and consultation. With a four-month window before the final ruling, we hope that the EU and China will work in the same direction, show sincerity, step up the consultation process, and reach a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible based on facts and rules.
Since last year, Europe decided to launch a countervailing investigation on China's new energy vehicles, there have been many voices of opposition within the EU, including BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and other car companies have clearly expressed their opposition. "The countervailing duties in Europe will affect European companies and their joint ventures, as a large proportion of vehicles exported from China to the EU come from European and American manufacturers," the German Association of the Automotive Industry said. Countervailing duties are imposed on European companies, sometimes even higher than Chinese companies. ”
Putting aside the long-term dominance of German cars in the Chinese market, PricewaterhouseCoopers released a research report earlier this year, which showed that "the sales of pure electric vehicles produced by German automakers in the Chinese market in 2023 increased by 50% compared to 2022." In particular, in the fourth quarter, German electric vehicle sales in China increased by 63% year-on-year. At present, the share of German electric vehicles in the Chinese market has reached 5%, compared to 4% last year. ”
Therefore, in the context of global warming, not only China, but also countries around the world are actively carrying out research in the field of new energy. Although China is currently at the forefront of the world in the field of new energy vehicles, Germany is also catching up. If the EU starts a trade war with China too soon, it is likely to inhibit the momentum of the rapid development of new energy technologies in Europe.
In fact, it is not only against European automakers, but also China's counterattack on the EU will even extend to other industries. On June 17, China's Ministry of Commerce announced an anti-dumping investigation into pork products from Europe.
Zhao Yongsheng, PhD supervisor at the Sorbonne University in Paris, revealed: "This move by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has caused European pork traders to be very nervous, because China has long been a major importer of pork, especially for special pork products. Due to the differences between Chinese and Western diets, it will be difficult to open up alternative markets once European pork loses the Chinese market. ”
In addition, the Ministry of Commerce also decided on June 20 to launch an anti-dumping investigation against brandy imported from the EU. According to statistics, Europe is the world's largest brandy land, of which 99.8% of the brandy exported to Europe every year comes from France.
The reason why the date for the investigation and collection of evidence on brandy is set half a month later is actually to give the EU time, hoping that the EU will pull back from the precipice and not continue on the road of confrontation between China and Europe.
On July 4, Italian Minister of Commerce and Manufacturing Urso arrived in China, and it is likely that Urso will negotiate with China on tariffs on electric vehicles. At present, China is negotiating this matter with the 29 EU member states one by one, and more than 15 EU countries have clearly expressed their opposition to the European Commission's decision.
In fact, China-EU relations are fundamentally different from those between China and the United States, and the EU's dialogue with China is more about economics than politics, and China and the EU should adhere to dialogue and return to the path of win-win cooperation as soon as possible.