BEIJING (Reuters) – China is urging the European Union to remove provisional tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles by July 4 after the two countries agreed to hold new trade talks, state media Global Times reported.
The EU is set to impose provisional tariffs of up to 38.1% on imports of Chinese-made EVs by July 4, in the meantime, in what it says are excessive and unfair subsidies to Chinese EV makers.
China has repeatedly called on the EU to roll back the tariffs and expressed a willingness to negotiate. Beijing, hurt by U.S. tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese goods, does not want to get drawn into a new tariff war but has said it will do all it can to protect Chinese companies if it does.
The two sides agreed to start tariff negotiations after a phone call on Saturday between EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during the German economy minister’s visit to China. Wang said the door was “open” for talks.
The best outcome from the talks would be for the EU to reverse its tariff decision by July 4, the Global Times reported late on Sunday, citing observers.
The paper reported that the EU’s growing protectionist tendencies would trigger countermeasures from China, and escalating trade friction would only lead to a “lose-lose” outcome for both sides.
The tariffs are due to be finalised on November 2nd following the conclusion of the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation.
China has denied the accusations of unfair subsidies and argued that the development of China’s EV industry is the result of its advantages in technology, markets and industrial supply chains.
(Reporting by Ryan Wu and Jerry Doyle Editing by
