Agencies
Beijing
The chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, Bernd Lange, announced on Friday that the EU and China are nearing a deal to remove tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports to Europe.
"We are continuing negotiations with the Chinese side on electric vehicles. We are close to a decision with China to cancel the duties. We are close to an agreement: China can commit to offering electric vehicles in the EU at least at the minimum price. This would solve the problem of distorting competition through unfair subsidies, which is why duties were initially introduced,” Lange told German broadcaster NTV.
The official noted that he does not share Germany’s concerns about potential Chinese retaliatory measures. In late October, the European Commission approved additional duties of up to 35.3 percent on electric vehicle imports from China, citing concerns over unfair subsidies.
These subsidies, the EU argued, allow Chinese EVs to undercut European manufacturers, threatening local industry competitiveness.
In response, China warned that this move could provoke a trade war and imposed provisional anti-dumping measures on brandy imports from the EU, escalating tensions between two of the world’s largest trading partners.
Despite the tariffs coming into force, both sides have continued negotiations to find a solution, fuelling hopes primarily among German carmakers -- which heavily depend on the Chinese market -- that a trade dispute can be averted.
China’s Chamber of Commerce to the EU at the time said it was profoundly disappointed by the "protectionist” and "arbitrary” EU measure.
During the previous negotiations, the EU side did not demonstrate sufficient sincerity in addressing the core concerns of Chinese and EU industries by making unreasonable demands, not responding positively to sensible offers from the Chinese side and attempting to split up Chinese EV makers during the talks, sources close to the matter told the Global Times last week.
For instance, EU officials sought to conduct separate negotiations with different EV makers, while failing to respond positively to offers made by the Chinese negotiating team.