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[text/ruan jiaqi, observer network]

there is only about a week left before the eu's final vote on whether to impose tariffs on chinese electric vehicles (on the 25th). on the 17th local time, the hong kong media south china morning post quoted senior eu sources as saying that germany is actively trying to persuade eu member states to vote against the measure in next week's vote. germany has recently been communicating with other member governments by phone in an attempt to prevent the tariff measures from taking effect.

the report pointed out that as spain and other eu countries that could play a key role in the vote have recently expressed their opposition to increasing tariffs on china, whether this eu policy can eventually be passed into writing no longer seems as "set in stone" as previously predicted.

the 27 eu member states plan to hold a final vote on whether to continue to impose high tariffs on chinese electric vehicles on september 25. if 15 member states, accounting for 65% of the eu population, vote against it, the european commission will be forced to shelve the measure.

in the first round of "consultative voting" in july, 12 eu member states including spain, italy and france voted in favor, 4 member states opposed, and 11 countries including germany, finland and sweden abstained. france, italy and spain, which voted in favor, are populous countries in the eu, and their combined population accounts for nearly 40% of the total population of the eu.

the south china morning post reported that the european commission was originally "confident" that it could get enough votes to turn the proposed bill into law, but as the voting date approached, some major european governments stood up to oppose the new tariff policy, adding suspense to the passage of the bill.

on september 11, local time, spanish prime minister sanchez ended his four-day visit to china. when asked by the media about related issues, he called on the eu to "reconsider" the plan to impose tariffs on chinese electric vehicles. he said at the time, "i must say this bluntly, we don't need another trade war," and "we need to build a bridge between the eu and china."

"sanchez made a 180-degree turn and put pressure on brussels." spain's el confidencial pointed out on the 12th that in the eu's vote on imposing tariffs on chinese electric vehicles, spain's position is very important as a country that accounts for 10.67% of the eu's total population.

on the same day, german chancellor scholz welcomed sanchez's move through his spokesman heberstreiter, saying "this is our common direction of progress." german handelsblatt quoted a statement from the german federal government saying that the number of eu member states that have reservations about the european commission's plan to increase tariffs on chinese electric vehicles is increasing.

germany, which accounts for 18.7% of the eu's population, has been opposed to imposing tariffs on chinese-made electric vehicles. germany is china's largest trading partner in europe, and berlin is worried that this tariff policy will affect german automakers that have been deeply rooted in china for many years, thereby hindering germany's economic growth.

in addition, sweden and hungary, which each account for more than 2% of the eu's population, are also skeptical of the eu's position and have warned the eu not to disrupt global trade. although the nordic country norway is not a member of the eu, its prime minister steller also recently pointed out that this move is not advisable.

at present, the game between china and the eu on the issue of tariffs is still going on. in recent days, chinese minister of commerce wang wentao met with italian automobile industry association president vavassori in turin, italy, and met with italian deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation tajani in rome. the two sides focused on in-depth exchanges on issues such as the eu's anti-subsidy investigation on chinese electric vehicles.

the south china morning post pointed out that if italy follows spain and germany and opposes the tariffs, brussels may be "in a mess" because these eu powers' "turning the guns" may provide other small countries with an opportunity to vote against it. according to the latest data from the european statistical office, italy is the third most populous country in the eu after germany and france, accounting for about 13% of the total eu population.

hong kong media quoted multiple sources as saying that many eu member governments have called for resolving the trade friction through negotiations, and believe that brussels' rejection of china's series of consultation proposals is "unreasonable."

since june this year, china has been maintaining communication and consultation with the eu on the eu's anti-subsidy case against china's electric vehicles. on september 12, a spokesperson for the european commission claimed that the price commitment solutions submitted by the china chamber of mechanical and electrical industry and all electric vehicle manufacturers in the eu's anti-subsidy case against electric vehicles did not meet the requirements, and the eu intends to reject the relevant price commitment applications.

in response, a spokesperson for china's ministry of commerce said that china is deeply disappointed that the european commission has ignored the sincerity and efforts of the chinese industry and proposed to reject the flexible solution proposed by the chinese industry without in-depth communication. china will closely follow the subsequent progress of the european side and will take all necessary measures to firmly defend the legitimate rights and interests of chinese companies.

according to the ministry of commerce, on september 19, minister of commerce wang wentao will hold talks with european commission executive vice president and trade commissioner valdis dombrovskis in brussels to discuss the eu's anti-subsidy case against china's electric vehicles.

according to a supplementary report by the south china morning post, the chinese side will also meet with german green party economy minister habeck in berlin on tuesday local time, and hold a roundtable meeting with automotive industry operators from europe and china in brussels on wednesday.

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