Recently, the European Union's temporary tax on China's electric vehicles officially came into effect for a period of four months. During this period, the EU will conduct an ongoing investigation into electric vehicles in China, after which EU member states will vote on whether to convert the temporary tariff decision into a formal tariff regime. That is, before that, China has a four-month window to negotiate with the EU to get Europe to retract the decision.
As for why it insists on imposing a tax on Chinese electric vehicles, EU President von der Leyen explained that China's cheap electric vehicles have hit the European market hard, so it needs to correct this "mistake" by imposing tariffs. But in fact, a number of media have spoken out, saying that the EU's ultimate goal is to impose tariffs to allow Chinese companies to hand over some of their technology to establish joint ventures with European domestic car companies, in exchange for tickets to enter the European market.
This is the main reason why, even though China has repeatedly stressed that it can resolve its differences through dialogue, the EU remains tough and insists on getting tariffs in place. But in recent years, China's development in the field of electric vehicles has been obvious to all, not only has our own country achieved the popularization of electric vehicles, but even in the world in battery manufacturing, so we not only do not have to accept the conditions proposed by the EU, but also have many means to fight back.
[EU decides to tax China's electric vehicles]
At the same time as the EU's decision to impose an electric tax on China, China immediately announced that it would officially start an anti-dumping investigation on pork and pork non-staple foods originating in EU member states, and gave EU countries 20 days to actively participate in the investigation. After that, the relevant authorities will conduct further investigations by means of sampling and questionnaires.
Before that, Spain, France, the Netherlands and other countries had already expressed their concerns. Because China is an excellent pork export market for these countries, if China restricts pork imports from Europe, the European pork industry will face a "nightmare". Because the value of pork sold from Europe to China is about 2.5 billion euros per year, the market size is very large. In addition, China also imports poultry and other ingredients from Europe, and the crackdown on the EU can be imagined.
Of course, this is only the first step in China's counterattack. After that, China's Ministry of Commerce issued a notice saying that it decided to hold a hearing on the EU brandy anti-dumping case starting from the 18th of this month, accusing European brandy producers of selling in China at prices below the market price. It is worth mentioning that French brandy accounts for the majority of China's brandy imports, so French wine merchants reacted the most, although they pretended to be relaxed that there was still an opportunity to cooperate with China, while emphasizing that the final outcome still depended on political negotiations.
[China is the largest pork market in the EU]
It should be added that when the EU proposed to tax China's electric vehicles, France was in favor of both sides, so it is self-evident who China's countermeasures are targeting.
In addition to introducing reciprocal countermeasures, China has also actively deployed in markets outside of Europe, and has made remarkable progress, once again leaving the EU behind.
At a time when China's electric vehicles are being besieged by paving dreams, China's major electric vehicle companies have found alternative markets and have entered African countries such as Morocco, South Africa and Rwanda. In Kenya's capital, Nezha Automobile has even moved its production line to produce electric vehicles locally in Kenya, and is expected to sell its products to 20 African countries within two years and open 100 stores within three years.
In addition, some car companies have chosen to enter the Southeast Asian market, such as BYD, which has just acquired a 20% stake in a Thai dealership and invested $490 million to build its first factory in Thailand, which is expected to produce 150,000 vehicles a year and create 10,000 local jobs. In addition, some car companies have set their sights on Indonesia and Malaysia, vowing to take advantage of the Southeast Asian market.
[BYD completed the construction of a plant in Thailand]
At the same time, BYD also won the bid for Azerbaijan's electric bus procurement project, a total of 160 12-meter electric buses, which are expected to be shipped to Azerbaijan in batches this month. In addition, Azerbaijan has signed a long-term purchase agreement with BYD to import 200 electric buses to China in batches over the next three years and assemble them locally. In short, China's cooperation in the field of electric vehicles can be described as in full bloom, and it does not rely only on the European market.
Therefore, what the EU has not made clear is that China's electric vehicles can develop to this day, relying on the manufacturing advantages of rapid relocation, which can no longer rely on low-price strategies. In other words, even if the European market closes its doors to us, we will still be able to rely on our battery manufacturing and technological advantages to quickly gain a foothold in other markets. The EU will eventually realize that it was a wrong choice to contain China in the new energy sector, and they will eventually pay the consequences for this wrong decision.