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on october 4, local time, eu member states voted and approved the european commission’s proposal to impose tariffs on chinese electric vehicles.

the reporter learned that 10 eu member states voted in favor, 12 eu member states abstained, and germany, hungary, malta, slovakia and slovenia voted against.

before the vote, reuters had "leaked" that france, italy, poland, and greece would vote in favor.

according to eu rules, two conditions need to be met for the proposal to be shelved at the same time - 15 member states need to vote against it, and the number of opponents needs to reach 65% of the total eu population. the combined population of france, italy, poland, and greece has reached 39% of the total population of the eu. in other words, even if other countries oppose it, the combined population will only account for 61%, which is still lower than the standard line of 65%.

faced with this result, people familiar with the matter told mr. tan:

after the european commission launched a countervailing investigation into china's electric vehicles, the china chamber of commerce for import and export of machinery and electronic products has been playing the role of industry defender. the person in charge of the chamber of commerce for import and export of mechanical and electronic products has also traveled to europe many times to attend relevant hearings and communicate with governments and industry figures in many eu countries.

the person in charge of the chamber of commerce for import and export of machinery and electronic products said,the reason why many eu member states voted in favor of imposing additional tariffs on china is to use this method to "force" chinese companies to invest in europe.

in fact, from the argument mentioned by the european side that "even the final ruling will not affect the continued talks with china," we can see the european side's thinking - it hopes to retain the "power" to launch unreasonable investigations, but is also worried about losing face and losing the opportunity to introduce chinese capital and technology.

regarding these little thoughts,china's attitude is also very clear. if it supports taxation, it will lose investment.

the industry has made it clear:

tan zhu has mentioned before that the european side has always used tariff reduction as a "bargaining chip" in negotiations, but the amount of tariffs is not the focus. the act of imposing tariffs itself is the focus.

the european side imposed additional tariffs on the grounds that chinese companies enjoyed "unjust subsidies." as long as tariffs were imposed, it would be considered a subsidy. no matter how low the tariff rate is, as long as subsidies are recognized, the eu can use other means to suppress chinese companies.

these means include the "foreign subsidy regulations" and even the creation of some new means and regulations.

therefore, after seeing the voting results, china also made its position clear-cut.

if you support tariffs, you will lose investment. what does this mean?

you know, the electrification transformation of european cars is not going smoothly.

data show that this year, the growth rate of new energy vehicle sales in europe has slowed down. one of the important reasons why european consumers are reluctant to choose electric vehicles is that the competitiveness of electric vehicles produced by european car companies is obviously lagging behind.

the european union has enacted a ban on the sale of fuel vehicles in 2035. electrification is a direction that european car companies have to choose.

however, european car companies face two problems in electrification. first, compared with traditional fuel vehicles, the labor required to manufacture electric vehicle parts is only half of the former. in other words, switching to electrification will bring about employment problems.

second, the current electric vehicle market cultivation in europe is not ideal, and european car companies have great advantages in the r&d and production of fuel vehicles. this has caused european car companies to be somewhat hesitant and hesitant.

as a result, european car companies are making dual investments in fuel vehicles and electric vehicles. but you must know that the research and development of electric vehicles is also very expensive.

under such circumstances, there are only two ways to save european car companies:

｜｜second, the european electric vehicle market is growing rapidly and there is a clear market shift.

both situations are inseparable from one condition -cooperate with china。

european car companies see this much more clearly than european politicians.

previously, the chairman of the bmw group has publicly stated on many occasions that the imposition of additional tariffs will not only hit german automakers, but will also intensify trade friction between china and europe, and will trigger "a trade dispute that no one will benefit from." the person in charge of mercedes-benz has also repeatedly expressed opposition to the additional tariffs.

just one day before the eu vote, bmw made another move - it was reported that bmw had ruled out the possibility of participating in the next round of financing of swedish battery manufacturer northvolt.

beifu was once regarded as "the star of hope for new energy in europe." in 2020, before beifu officially started production, bmw signed a long-term contract worth 2 billion euros with it. subsequently, many european car companies, including volkswagen, reached contracts worth more than us$55 billion with it.

not only did they place orders, these car companies also became investors in beifu and participated in the company's investment.

the german government also has high hopes for it. this year, the german government has provided it with assistance of up to 900 million euros.

but the result is that beifu has been "bounced". first, the delivery time is delayed, and there are also problems with battery quality. under such circumstances, bmw plans to no longer participate in beifu's investment.

from the perspective of europe's electrification transformation, europe needs china more.

if you support taxation, you will lose investment and the opportunity for electric transformation.

european countries need to think clearly about these things.

within europe, there are many opposing voices. germany is one of them. since the european commission launched an unreasonable investigation into china's electric vehicles, germany has been campaigning against the eu's imposition of tariffs on chinese electric vehicles.

according to disclosures, in the days before the vote, the german chancellor had been communicating with other european leaders, repeatedly emphasizing that if the eu really imposed tariffs on chinese electric vehicles, the consequences would be very serious.

not only the german government, but also the german industry is also actively speaking out. on october 3, german trade unions and industry employee representatives publicly issued a "joint statement of opposition", clearly opposing the eu's imposition of tariffs on chinese electric vehicles, saying that this "wrong path" will not solve the eu's own problems. question.

in an internal vote in july, germany abstained from voting. this time, germany clearly voted against it. previously, malta, hungary, slovakia and cyprus voted against.

there are more than just objections. not long ago, spanish officials also called on the eu to resolve the problem through negotiations.

germany has the loudest opposition, precisely because germany has cooperated more with china in the automotive field and has benefited more.

this vote is still some time away from the final decision. for china and the eu, there is still the possibility of resolving the issue through negotiation.

this period is not only a time for countries such as germany that oppose taxation to continue to do the work of other eu countries, but also the last window period for those eu countries that voted in favor to seize the opportunity of new energy transformation. can they seize it?it depends on these countries themselves。

master tan learned that,on october 7, china and the eu will conduct a new round of negotiations. before the talks, the european side needs to show sincerity and action.