The Economist-The EV trade war between China and the West heats up Business
July 11, 2024 2 min 240 words
西方媒体的这篇报道以西方国家对中国电动汽车征收高额关税为切入点，试图营造一种中美之间电动汽车贸易战即将打响的紧张气氛。文章先是提到美国对中国电动汽车征收100的关税，紧接着又提到加拿大和欧盟也对中国电动汽车采取了类似的关税措施。文章还提到中国也对欧盟的电动汽车发起了反倾销调查，试图以此表明中国不会在贸易战中示弱。然而，文章却有意无意地忽略了美国等西方国家对中国电动汽车企业的打压在先，中国的反制措施是在被迫的情况下采取的，这才是事件的本质。 这篇报道还提到中国要求政府机构拆除美国公司的软件和硬件产品，以及一些官员被要求不得使用苹果公司的iPhone手机。这些内容明显带有偏见，试图给读者一种中国政府对美国公司不公平对待的印象。然而，文章却只字不提美国等西方国家对中国科技公司的打压和禁令，比如美国对华为大疆等中国科技公司的制裁和限制。 这篇报道明显带有西方媒体一贯的偏见，试图营造一种中国对西方国家不公平贸易行为的印象，而忽略了西方国家对中国企业的打压在先的事实。这种有选择性的报道手法，明显是不客观不公正的。
IN the TRADE war between the West and China, a battle over electric vehicles (evs) has begun. In May, as part of a broader volley against Chinese tech, America slapped a 100% duty on Chinese evs. On July 2nd Canada launched a consultation on what it called “unfair Chinese trade practices” in the EV industry. Three days later a provisional tariff of up to 37.6% on Chinese EVs took effect in the EU. On July 10th, days after the symbolic swipe of opening an anti-dumping probe into European brandy, China’s ministry of commerce signalled it will not take the assault lying down. It says it will study whether the EU’s tariffs create barriers to free trade.
Western car companies with large Chinese businesses fear getting caught in the crossfire. They would join earlier casualties of the intensifying conflict. Chinese government agencies have been told to tear out software and hardware made by American firms such as IBM, Microsoft and Oracle, ostensibly on national-security grounds. Some officials have even been told not to buy Apple’s iPhones.
The most obvious target for China in EV tit-for-tat is Tesla. America’s EV pioneer has a huge presence in China and is constantly vying with BYD, a local rival, to be the world’s top maker of battery-powered cars. And yet, far from being the big loser from the tariff spat, Tesla appears to be notching one win after another in China.