EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis has described his meeting with Chinese Trade Minister Wang Wentao in Brussels on Thursday to try to resolve the trade dispute over electric cars as “constructive”.
On August 20, the European Commission announced its decision to impose a surcharge on electric cars from China for five years. Beijing is accused of having distorted competition by massively subsidising manufacturers on its territory, allowing them to offer lower prices.
The EU hopes to protect its automotive sector, which employs 14.6 million workers. But Beijing has launched anti-dumping investigations targeting EU pork, dairy products and spirits.
The EU procedure continues
“Constructive meeting with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao. The two sides agreed to step up their efforts to find an effective, enforceable and WTO-compliant solution on electric vehicles,” Valdis Dombrovskis wrote on the social network
However, he stressed that the procedure initiated by the EU to tax Chinese imports is continuing. China will “persevere” in the negotiations “until the last moment,” Wang Wentao said in a press release published on Wednesday evening.
Before becoming final, the Commission’s customs duties must be confirmed by a vote of the 27 EU member states before the end of October. However, they are divided on this procedure, supported in particular by France.
A spiral of customs duties that must be avoided
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called on EU member states and the Commission to “review” their position and called for a “negotiated solution” during a trip to Shanghai on September 11.
Germany is on the same page. “We want to avoid a trade war with a spiral of tariffs, which ultimately harms both sides,” German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said on Tuesday after a meeting in Berlin with Wang Wentao.
Germany’s powerful car industry is heavily established in China, the world’s largest market, and fears the negative repercussions of a trade conflict.
Source: BFM TV
