Waiting to receive this Wednesday a formal notification from the European Union on the intention to impose tariffs of up to 25% on imports of Chinese electric vehicles, from Beijing They have warned that they will retaliate in what seems like a new trade war that is opening between the EU and the Asian giant.
After the Financial Times advanced the news about Brussels’ intentions, Lin Jian,spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, assured at a press conference that his Government would take “all measures to firmly defend its legitimate rights and interests.”
Lin, as he already reiterated in previous appearances, pointed out that these additional EU tariffs “violate the principles of the market economy and will eventually undermine Europe’s own interests.” In conversations with this newspaper, Beijing officials assure that there will be a “severe” response if the EU decides to “follow USA in blocking Chinese electric cars”.
European countries like Germany o Sweden They have opposed Brussels’ plan for fear that these tariffs will spark a major trade dispute in which everyone loses. It is also rejected by many European car manufacturers, convinced that an angry China will respond reciprocally, or even more radically, by directly blocking the entry of European vehicles into its market.
The EU currently charges non-bloc carmakers a 10% tax on imports. Starting in July, tariffs are expected to increase by up to 25% on the four largest Chinese manufacturers, whose sales have soared in Europa. This will generate more than 2,000 million euros per year.
The advance report on the additional tariffs indicates that they will mainly affect the two main Chinese manufacturers, BYD and SAIC, as well as companies such as Tesla, which has factories in China.
It was last year when Ursula von der Leyen,president of the European Commission, began to tighten the screws on Chinese electric cars, accusing manufacturers of “unfair competition” and announcing the opening of an investigation into disproportionate subsidies for their vehicles.
A “protectionist” measure that infuriated Beijing, as did new investigations launched by the EU into the public procurement of medical devices, solar panels and wind turbines made in China. “We like fair competition. What we don’t like is China flooding the market with massively subsidized electric cars,” Von der Leyen said in April.
The specialized magazine MIT Technology Review points out in an article that, from 2009 to 2022, the Chinese Government injected its manufacturers with more than 200 billion yuan (27 billion euros) in subsidies and tax exemptions, as well as the delivery of manufacturing contracts. acquisition so that the new companies would stay afloat in the first years.
In just two years, the Asian superpower went from selling 1.3 million electric cars to close to seven million. Furthermore, Beijing, by far, is the main producer of lithium batteries (above 65%), the main component of these vehicles. China, the bloc’s largest trading partner, exported €10 billion worth of electric cars to the EU in 2023, doubling its market share last year to 8%.