summary | resist "lose-lose protectionism" and welcome "win-win green competition" - european circles oppose the european commission's imposition of tariffs on chinese electric vehicles
2024-09-18
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this article is reproduced from [xinhuanet];
xinhua news agency, brussels, september 18summary | resist "lose-lose protectionism" and welcome "win-win green competition" - european circles oppose the european commission's imposition of tariffs on chinese electric vehicles
xinhua news agency reporter
recently, china and the eu have been conducting intensive consultations on the anti-subsidy case for electric vehicles. however, the european commission not only insisted on imposing high anti-subsidy tariffs, but also rejected the package solution proposed by the chinese industry, showing no political will to resolve the issue. in response, european political, business and academic circles are worried and call on the european commission to respond to the voices of all parties, listen to the demands of all sectors, and properly resolve the economic and trade differences between china and the eu through dialogue and consultation.
spanish prime minister pedro sanchez, who just concluded his visit to china, reiterated that spain firmly supports free trade and called for dialogue within the multilateral framework of the wto to seek solutions. he said: "we must develop economic and trade relations and avoid trade wars, because this is not good for the world." sanchez believes that the eu should reconsider its decision to impose tariffs on chinese electric vehicles. the commonalities between the eu and china far outweigh the differences, and cooperation should continue to be strengthened.
on september 16, at the media preview of the international transport expo in hannover, germany, people visited the e-star v7 commercial vehicle at the dongfeng motor exhibition area. photo by xinhua news agency reporter ren pengfei
german government spokesman steffen hebstrakt agreed with the spanish prime minister's statement, saying "this is our common direction". german chancellor scholz has also repeatedly expressed strong opposition to the eu's decision and called on the eu to abandon its plan to impose additional tariffs. he said that germany will not close its market to foreign companies because it does not want its own companies to be treated the same way in foreign markets.
german federal minister of digitalization and transport volker wiesing has previously warned that a trade war will backfire on european and german companies. improving competitiveness should be achieved through a more open market, not through trade wars and market fragmentation.
the automotive manufacturing industry is a pillar and key sector of the hungarian economy. hungarian prime minister viktor orban said recently that all the heads of large companies in the industry he met with in the past few months opposed the eu's imposition of tariffs on chinese electric vehicles.
sweden also questioned the eu's position. swedish prime minister kristersson previously said that the eu's tariff increase was a "bad idea" that would undermine global trade, and that a "broader trade war" was not a solution for industrialized countries such as germany and sweden.
on june 6, in brussels, belgium, an electric car was charging at a charging station near the european commission (file photo). xinhua news agency reporter zhao dingzhe
britain and norway are not members of the european union. they have made it clear that they will not blindly follow the eu in imposing tariffs on chinese electric vehicles. british secretary of state for business and trade jonathan reynolds said that britain will not follow the eu in imposing high tariffs on electric vehicles imported from china. norway is currently one of the countries with the highest sales of new energy vehicles in europe. norwegian prime minister støre said that no country should impose such tariffs, and that imposing tariffs will ultimately only hurt both sides. he stressed that norway does not want to burden its consumers, and consumers have the right to buy the cars they like.
the call for the eu to cancel the additional tariffs and oppose the trade war has also resonated widely in the european academic and business circles. croatian political analyst mladen plese said that the eu's practice of imposing additional tariffs on chinese electric vehicles has caused dissatisfaction. many people believe that this is a step for the eu to launch a trade war with china, which will ultimately damage the european economy.
mike hawes, ceo of the society of motor manufacturers and traders, said bluntly: "no one wants to see a trade war. we don't want to see any tit-for-tat or tit-for-tat behavior. what we need is an open market and free and fair trade."
kisei zoltan, director of the political analysis center of the sazodeweg foundation in hungary, said that europe has benefited greatly from investment and trade cooperation with china over the past 40 years. the best way to safeguard the interests of european consumers and businesses is to protect free trade through negotiation rather than getting involved in a trade war. he said that the eu is promoting green transformation, but this goal cannot be achieved at the current pace of electrification transformation. european automakers simply cannot provide enough electric vehicles to achieve this goal, so they also need support from other manufacturers, including chinese manufacturers.
on january 26, employees worked at the nio energy european factory in biotorbagy, hungary. photo by ferdi otilo, xinhua news agency
viktor eszterhay, a researcher at the john lukacs institute of the national university of administration in hungary, believes that avoiding a trade war is in the fundamental interests of both europe and china. he said that from the perspective of the eu and china, trade is vital to both sides, and a trade war will fundamentally damage the economy and trust between the two sides.
in an interview with xinhua news agency, eric solheim, former un under-secretary-general and former executive director of the united nations environment programme, said that the eu's decision to impose tariffs on chinese electric vehicles was wrong. "china has achieved the rapid transition to green transportation that all eu leaders have called for in the past decade." he believes that europe should "roll out the red carpet" for chinese automakers leading the electric vehicle market and invite these companies to invest in europe to bring a "win-win green competition" to the european market, while protectionism is a lose-lose situation.
haye koestlo, founder of evxl, a dutch electric vehicle news website, said that although the eu is trying to exclude chinese cars by setting up trade barriers, well-known western automakers are increasingly strengthening their ties with the chinese market. this highlights the importance of cooperation and innovation to the rapidly developing electric vehicle industry. cooperation between europe and china is not only beneficial to participating companies, but also can accelerate the global popularization of electric vehicles and promote the global automotive industry towards a more sustainable future.
