The Guardian-EU brushes aside risk of China trade war over electric vehicle tariffs
July 4, 2024 4 min 732 words
这篇报道主要内容是，欧盟将对中国电动汽车进口征收更高的关税，从17.4到37.6不等，尽管汽车制造商担心中国会进行报复。欧盟贸易官员瓦尔迪斯东布罗夫斯基斯（Valdis Dombrovskis）淡化了贸易战的风险，称欧盟的行动符合世贸组织规则。欧洲最大的汽车制造商大众再次批评欧盟的关税提议，认为这不利于欧洲汽车工业的长期发展。中国在欧盟电动汽车电池市场的份额已从2020年的3上升到25，欧盟担心如果不采取行动，这一重要产业可能会受到严重影响。 评论： 该报道存在一定偏见，过度强调了欧盟官员东布罗夫斯基斯对贸易战风险的淡化，而淡化了中国可能进行的报复措施。报道中提到，中国正在调查法国进口的科涅克白兰地和猪肉产品，这表明中国可能已经在采取报复行动。同时，报道没有充分考虑中国在电动汽车产业的发展和创新方面所做的努力，以及中国产品的竞争力提升可能给欧盟带来的压力。此外，报道也没有全面介绍欧盟内部在对华关税问题上的分歧，例如德国政府呼吁友好解决，并强调需要中国作出让步。报道还忽略了欧盟征收关税的潜在负面影响，包括消费者可能面临更高的价格，以及欧盟汽车工业自身的竞争力可能受到影响。该报道的基调偏向于支持欧盟的关税举措，而没有客观评价其可能带来的风险和负面影响。
The EU’s top trade official, Valdis Dombrovskis, has brushed aside concerns of trade-war retaliation from Beijing against European business, after the European Commission imposed duties on Chinese electric vehicles.
Dombrovskis, a European Commission vice-president, told Bloomberg Television that talks with China were ongoing, adding: “We are not seeing the basis for retaliation as what we are conducting is indeed in line with WTO [World Trade Organization] rules.”
Provisional tariffs on Chinese EV imports to the bloc ranging from 17.4% to 37.6% will apply from Friday, after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on what the EU executive called “unfair” subsidies from Beijing.
These tariffs – far lower than the 100% tariffs imposed by the US – will come on top of the EU’s existing 10% duty on electric vehicles from China.
Europe’s biggest carmaker, Volkswagen, reiterated its criticism on Thursday of the European Commission’s proposed tariffs on EVs made in China , arguing that they would not strengthen Europe’s car industry in the long term.
Volkswagen, which is grappling with falling market share in China, has previously warned of retaliation from Beijing. “The timing of the EU Commission’s decision is detrimental to the current weak demand for [battery electric vehicles] in Germany and Europe,” the company said on Thursday.
Stellantis, owner of brands including Citroën, Fiat and Vauxhall, has said it will not take a defensive stance in the battle for electric car sales and preferred to “fight to stay competitive”.
The tariffs are the result of an ongoing EU investigation launched last October, which found Chinese producers benefited from subsidies at every stage of production, from the mining of lithium used in batteries, to shipping the vehicles to EU ports, such as Rotterdam and Antwerp.
“Based on the investigation, the commission has concluded that the BEV [battery electric vehicle] value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidisation, which is causing a threat of economic injury to EU BEV producers,” the commission said in a statement to accompany a legal decision published on Thursday.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, told Xi Jinping during the Chinese president’s recent visit to Europe that “imbalances” caused by state support for Chinese industry – leading to artificially cheap products – threatened jobs in Europe, which was “a matter of great concern”.
China, which has said it is looking for a “mutually acceptable solution” to the dispute, is investigating French cognac and pork imports over subsidies, raising the prospect of tit-for-tat measures.
“It is plain for all to see who is escalating trade frictions and instigating a ‘trade war’,” the Chinese commerce ministry said last month.
China has won a 25% share of the EU market for electric-battery powered cars, up from 3% in 2020. EU officials fear that without action a vital European industry that employs 2.5 million people and 10.3 million in the wider supply chain could be seriously hurt, just as the EU saw its solar-panel companies lose out to subsidised Chinese competitors.
From Friday, importers of Chinese vehicles into the EU will be required to give bank guarantees to customs officers to pay the duties. Money will only be collected if the commission concludes in the autumn that the car industry would have been harmed without these duties.
A final decision on definitive duties – which would be in force for five years – will only be taken in the autumn, pending a vote by the EU’s 27 member states.
Under the provisional measures, China’s BYD, which vies with Tesla for the spot of the world’s largest producer of electric vehicles, faces a tariff of 17.4%; Geely will pay 19.9% and SAIC 37.6%.
The rates – calculated according to total subsides and company turnover – have been modestly adjusted downwards in most cases since the required pre-disclosure of tariffs last month, after technical talks with the companies.
The tariffs enter into force despite staunch opposition from Germany, Europe’s largest exporter to China. The Germany government has called for an “amicable solution”, but also said “serious movement is needed on the Chinese side”.
German officials do not expect to reverse the measures, which can only be overturned by a weighted majority of 15 EU member states representing 65% of the union’s population.