Brief news
The EU and China have agreed to discuss the anti-subsidy inquiry into Chinese electric vehicles (EVs). Chinese observers believe that this move shows China’s sincerity in resolving trade disputes through talks and EU officials’ concerns about the negative impact of the EC’s politically-driven tariff scheme on European companies and consumers. According to observers, the Chinese side prefers that the EU’s executive body, the EC, reverse its tariff decision before July 4 and follow WTO norms. They advised the EU to resolve disagreements through facts and China-EU economic and trade cooperation rather than political pressure, notably from the US.
China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EC executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis agreed to begin talks on the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs. Zhang Jian, a vice president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that China has been sincere in consulting to settle disagreements. He hoped the EC would consult and follow WTO procedures before placing provisional duties on Chinese EV imports.
Sun Yanhong, a senior research fellow at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the EU bears full responsibility for escalating trade frictions with China, which could trigger a “trade war.” Fudan University Centre for European Studies director Ding Chun credited Chinese firms’ key technology breakthroughs, highly efficient innovations, scale effect, and other strategic choices for Chinese EVs’ global competitiveness.
China and the EU are major trade and investment partners with interconnected industrial and supply chains. Ding Chun added that EV disagreements should be resolved through talks rather than geopolitical wars and protectionist measures.
Illustrated news
The EU and China agreed to discuss on the anti-subsidy inquiry into Chinese electric vehicles on Saturday. Chinese observers said the move shows China’s sincerity in trying to resolve trade disputes through talks and EU officials’ concerns about the negative impact of the EC’s politically-driven tariff scheme on European companies and consumers.
According to observers, the Chinese side prefers that the EU’s executive body, the EC, reverse its tariff decision before July 4 and follow WTO norms.
They advised the EU to resolve disagreements through facts and China-EU economic and trade cooperation rather than political pressure, notably from the US.
China-EU economic and trade cooperation is massive and mutually dependent with significant economic complementarity. They warned the EU’s protectionist steps will prompt Chinese countermeasures, and trade frictions will escalate to lose-lose results for both parties.
Ready to talk
On Saturday, China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EC executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis agreed to begin talks on the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs. The ministry said in a website press release that the two officials achieved a consensus via video conversation.
The declaration comes after Wang told German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck on Saturday that China is ready for EV talks if the EU is sincere.
“China is willing to consider both parties’ reasonable concerns to avoid the escalation of trade frictions in a rational and professional manner,” he said.
Zhang Jian, a vice president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Sunday that China has been sincere in consulting to settle disagreements.
Zhang said the EC consulted with China because certain member countries strongly opposed the EC’s proposed tariffs on Chinese EVs and China’s promise to take “necessary measures” to preserve its lawful rights and interests.
He hoped the EC would consult and follow WTO procedures before placing provisional duties on Chinese EV imports.
Habeck told Wang that the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs will harm Europe’s green transition and consumer interests.
“Overall China-EU relations will be increasingly eroded if the EC goes ahead and imposes tariffs on Chinese products, disregarding the Chinese side’s efforts to engage in friendly consultations,” Sun Yanhong, a senior research fellow at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times
Sun said the anti-subsidy inquiry against Chinese EVs may be tough to consult on since European politicians have politicised and militarised economic and trade matters.
The EU’s claim of ‘overcapacity’ in China’s EV sector is unfounded. “The investigation and ruling have been unfair and opaque,” Sun said, urging the EU to address the China-EU EV dispute economically rather than politically.
EU is solely responsible
In response to media reports of EU industries concerned about escalating trade tensions, the Chinese Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM) said on Friday that the EU bears full responsibility for escalating trade frictions with China, which could trigger a “trade war.”
According to MOFCOM, the EU has adopted 31 restrictive trade and investment measures against China since January, 25 of which were trade remedies, substantially hurting China-EU economic and trade cooperation.
New documents received by the Global Times revealed how the EC unfairly and opaquely conducted its so-called anti-subsidy probe against Chinese EVs, purposely inciting a trade war with China.
“The EC’s probe and preliminary ruling of provisional tariffs on Chinese EV imports reflect the EU’s anxiety over China’s comparative advantage and the EU’s industrial weakness,” Fudan University Centre for European Studies director Ding Chun told the Global Times on Sunday.
Ding credits Chinese firms’ key technology breakthroughs, highly efficient innovations, scale effect, and other strategic choices for Chinese EVs’ global competitiveness.
China and the EU are major trade and investment partners with interconnected industrial and supply chains. Ding added that EV disagreements should be resolved through talks rather than geopolitical wars and protectionist measures.
“Technology will drive Europe’s green and digital revolution. China leads in technologies needed to reach carbon neutrality in Europe “Dick Roche, former Irish Minister for European Affairs and the Environment, spoke at a China Chamber of Commerce to the EU event in Brussels on Wednesday.
Roche said Europe should accept that fact and sit down with China and other possible partners to resolve the ideological, political, and administrative barriers to progress.
Source : Global Times/ China
