The EU’s tariff increase on electric vehicles in China has attracted many objections.

On October 4th, the European Commission announced that the proposal to impose tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China has won the necessary support from member states. Once the decision was announced, it was opposed by many parties in Europe. "You hurt yourself", "There are many harms but no benefits" and "It will only bring losers" … Many people in Europe believe that this move is not conducive to enhancing the competitiveness of European car companies, nor does it help the EU’s green transformation goals, and they call for continued consultations with China.

German Chancellor Angela Scholz said before the vote that Germany is opposed to the EU’s tariff increase on electric vehicles in China, and Europe must continue negotiations with China. According to the Daily News of German TV, German Finance Minister Lindner issued a warning as soon as the voting results were announced, saying that the European Commission should not trigger a trade war, "we need to negotiate a solution".

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban said that Hungary opposes the EU’s tariff increase, which will damage the EU’s own competitiveness. Matea Ri Khan, Minister of Economy, Tourism and Sports of Slovenia, said that the global green transformation has brought countless business opportunities to the automobile industry, and Slovenia opposed the European Commission’s imposition of tariffs on electric vehicles in China. Slovenian auto parts suppliers held a meeting with China automakers in Ljubljana on October 8th, expecting to expand cooperation between the two countries in the automotive field.

Hildegarde Muller, president of the German Automobile Industry Association, said that Europe’s prosperity benefits from global trade, and the EU’s current actions run counter to this, which means that global cooperation has regressed again. She called on all parties to resolve their differences through dialogue and cooperation, avoid escalation of the situation and prevent potential trade conflicts.

Hrvoje Prpic, president of the Croatian Association of Electric Vehicle Drivers, said that the imposition of tariffs is not only detrimental to EU-China trade, but also to healthy competition and green transformation of the European electric vehicle industry.

Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the major European automobile manufacturers, all stressed that imposing tariffs on electric vehicles in China was a "wrong way" and a "fatal signal" to the European automobile industry.

"Europe and China need to find a solution quickly to prevent a trade conflict with only losers in the end." Qi Puze, chairman of German BMW Group, said that the increase in tariffs will limit the supply of electric vehicles to European consumers, thus delaying the low-carbon development process of European transportation industry.

Obermu, Chairman of the Management Board of audi ag, Germany, said that the EU’s tariff increase on China’s electric vehicles will have a negative impact on the German automobile manufacturing industry, and the German government should continue to take a clear stand against the tariff increase within the EU. Instead of imposing tariffs, we should try to solve the problem from the perspective of mutual investment. Companies that participate in overseas investment, create employment opportunities and cooperate with local enterprises should enjoy preferential tariffs. A spokesman for the German Mercedes-Benz Group said, "Punitive tariffs will weaken the competitiveness of an industry for a long time."

According to a survey released recently by the All-German Automobile Club, Germany’s largest transportation association, 59% of the Germans surveyed are willing to buy cars made by China automakers. When talking about the reasons for choosing China brand, 83% of German respondents think that the primary reason is high cost performance, while 55% and 37% of respondents think that the innovative technology and styling design of electric vehicles in China are very attractive. Ferdinand Dudenhofer, an authoritative German expert in automobile economics and president of Bochum Automotive Research Institute, said that China is in a leading position in the fields of electric vehicles, autonomous driving and intelligent networking, and cooperation between Europe and China can benefit both sides.

(Berlin, October 9 th)

People’s Daily (17th edition, October 10th, 2024)