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[global times reporter chen zishuai and global times special correspondent in germany aoki] the eu’s anti-subsidy investigation of electric vehicles in china has ushered in new progress. bloomberg reported on the 28th that after delay, the eu plans to vote on whether to impose tariffs on chinese electric vehicles on october 4. currently, representatives from china and the eu are holding close consultations in brussels to find alternatives to additional tariffs. experts interviewed by the global times said that the eu believes that this policy towards china is very critical, and the consultations show that china and the eu are committed to resolving trade disputes through communication and negotiation.

data map: on june 18, 2024 local time, the sign of the byd service center in berlin, germany. (visual china)

behind the date postponement

it has been nearly a year since the european commission (referred to as the "european commission") launched a countervailing investigation into chinese electric vehicles in october last year. in july this year, the european commission began to impose temporary countervailing duties on pure electric vehicles imported from china. the european commission was originally scheduled to convene 27 member states to vote on september 25 to decide whether to extend the current temporary tariffs into permanent tariffs for at least five years. eu countries have now received the relevant draft.

recently, chinese minister of commerce wang wentao went to europe to negotiate with the eu on the anti-subsidy case. germany's "investment weekly" quoted sources on the 28th as saying that the voting time will be postponed to october 4, but it may still change. the vote was slightly delayed as teams negotiated with china to find an amicable solution and avoid new taxes.

"this reflects the contradictions and entangled mentality within the eu." sun xiaohong, secretary-general of the automotive internationalization committee of the china chamber of commerce for import and export of machinery and electronic products, told a reporter from the global times on the 28th that the postponement of the voting date shows that the eu wants to obtain a concession through negotiations. satisfactory results.

bloomberg reported on the 25th that people familiar with the matter revealed that the eu is working on adding a clause to the draft to enable china-eu negotiations to proceed after the vote. sun xiaohong said that this means that even if the vote is passed, the content of the regulations can be adjusted in subsequent negotiations "to achieve a level acceptable to both china and the eu."

on the 28th, liang huaixin, a researcher at the institute of national security and governance at the university of international business and economics, told a reporter from the global times that this reflects two realities: on the one hand, it is the difficulty of policy coordination among eu countries on this issue; there are obvious differences in demands; on the other hand, eu countries still believe that china policy in this economic and trade field is very critical, and a unified voice needs to be formed at the eu level.

there are different voices within the eu

according to the eu's procedure, if 15 member states (and accounting for 65% of the eu's population) vote against, the plan to impose additional tariffs will be shelved. otherwise, the eu will impose additional tariffs ranging from 7.8% to 35.3% on electric vehicles imported from china on top of the 10% standard car import tariff.

"global times" reporters have noticed that there are currently disagreements within the eu on whether to impose additional tariffs on chinese electric vehicles. bloomberg said that countries such as germany and spain warned against imposing additional tariffs because this may trigger a "trade war." however, countries such as italy and denmark support this measure.

german economy minister robert habeck said in berlin last monday that he was not in favor of imposing countervailing duties due to concerns about subsequent disputes. hungarian foreign minister szijjarto said on the 24th that hungary opposes the eu’s imposition of punitive tariffs on chinese electric vehicles. he said that the eu's clear interest lies in developing cooperation with china rather than intensifying conflicts with each other. spanish prime minister sanchez also said on the 11th of this month that the eu should reconsider its plan to impose tariffs on chinese electric vehicles.

liang huaixin told reporters that the reason for the different voices within the eu at this stage is that the scale of the electric vehicle industry and the influence of domestic green policies vary among countries. especially in this round of anti-globalization thoughts, the politics of some european countries have shifted to the right. more obvious. "therefore, the issue of electric vehicles against china actually reflects the deep-seated differences in industrial foundations and political trends within european countries."

what are the possible impacts if additional tariffs are imposed?

hong kong's south china morning post recently reported that european business leaders have warned about the consequences of a series of upcoming eu legislation, saying it may lead to "decoupling" of some supply chains. the report quoted analysts as saying that these conflicts are "symptoms of a deeper disease" related to the growing gap in the global trading system.

"on the one hand, it will have a significant impact on china-eu economic and trade relations, with the automobile industry bearing the brunt. on the other hand, economic and trade fluctuations will also have a backlash on china-eu political relations, bringing a series of uncertainties." liang huaixin said.

regarding the automobile industry specifically, a reporter from the global times noted that the eu is currently facing challenges in its green transformation. many analysts believe that interfering with economic and trade cooperation with china will hinder this process. euronews tv recently reported that according to statistics from the european automobile manufacturers association, registrations of pure electric vehicles in the eu fell by 43.9% in august this year, and their total market share fell to 14.4% from 21% a year ago. this is the fourth consecutive month of decline this year. the industry has called on policymakers to help, saying if nothing is done, the transition will not only be costly for carmakers but also affect the economy itself and jeopardize the eu's zero-emissions target.

sun xiaohong said that the current sales and development trends of new energy vehicles in europe are not optimistic. europe as a whole is wavering on the development of new energy vehicles and climate policies, and the imposition of additional tariffs will further affect their electrification and green development processes.

"the eu has only formulated a climate policy but no new energy vehicle industry policy, which makes the industry lack development momentum." sun xiaohong said that the eu's "battery and waste battery law", "critical raw materials law" and other related policies are "piecemeal" and lack a system nature, practicality and implementation details, so even if the eu sets up a high tariff wall to protect local companies, from the perspective of the automotive industry chain, the eu is no longer competitive enough.