The president of the European Commission criticized this Tuesday the competition of “heavily subsidized foreign actors” in the European Union (EU), alluding to Chinese electric cars that are sold cheaper than European ones, promising to put an end to “unfair practices “.
“When it comes to unfair competition, our European companies too often face competition from heavily subsidized foreign players. Consider the automobile industry. […]but at the same time world markets are flooded with cheap Chinese electric cars and their price is kept artificially low thanks to huge state subsidies,” said Ursula von der Leyen.
In his speech at the European Ecological Pact Summit, held in Prague, the Czech capital, the leader of the community executive justified that, for this reason, the EU is making progress in the investigation against subsidies for electric vehicles from China, announced to middle of this month.
“European companies will always be prepared for real competition – competition in terms of profitability and quality – but it must be fair and we will protect European companies from unfair competition,” he promised.
These statements by Ursula von der Leyen come at the end of the trip of the executive vice president of the European Commission with the Trade portfolio, Valdis Dombrovskis, to China, on which occasion the person in charge asked Beijing for cooperation in the open Brussels investigation into Chinese subsidies. supposedly illegal, to the electric car sector, according to European sources.
At the moment there are trade tensions between Brussels and Beijing, since two weeks ago the president of the community executive, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the opening of the investigation, after collecting evidence for a year by the institution’s services. .
The day after the investigation was announced, China expressed “serious concerns and strong discontent,” accusing the EU of “a blatant act of protectionism in the name of fair competition.”
According to data from the European Commission, Chinese electric cars, which recently entered the EU, already represent 8% of the total market, being 20% cheaper compared to the European competition.
China, which has emerged as an economic power, has promoted a strong state investment strategy, which the EU questions because it affects competition.
What is at stake are large subsidies for Chinese companies that invest abroad, mainly in strategic sectors.
Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers indicates that Chinese exports of electric vehicles doubled (+110%) between January and August.
Nearly six million electric cars were sold in China last year, more than all other countries in the world combined. The size of the Chinese market and strong state support have led to the rise of local brands, including BYD, NIO and Xpeng.
Source: TSF
