The European Commission’s decision to impose extra tariffs on China-made electric vehicles (EVs) is typical trade protectionism, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, urging the European Union (EU) to refrain from further escalating trade frictions with China.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-nation EU, announced on Tuesday that it had concluded its anti-subsidy investigation and decided to impose a definitive countervailing duty on imports of new battery EVs imported from China for a period of five years.
The sampled Chinese companies will be subject to different countervailing duties, specifically, 17.0 percent on BYD, 18.8 percent on Geely, and 35.3 percent on SAIC.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing in response, Lin Jian, the spokesman, slammed the EU decision, saying that it will hurt EU’s own interests.
“A spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce has already made clear China’s position on the European Union’s decision to impose extra tariffs on China-made electric vehicles (EVs). I would like to stress that it is typical trade protectionism that an EU body [the European Commission] has insisted on conducting anti-subsidy probe into Chinese EVs and on imposing high tariffs without any industry requests,” Lin said.
“It will damage the industrial chain and supply chain cooperation between China and the EU, harm the interests of European consumers, and undermine the efforts of the EU’s green transition and the global response to climate change,” he said
“Dialogue and cooperation are the underlying tone of China-EU relations. Mutual benefit and win-win outcome are the nature of China-EU economic and trade cooperation. Resolving economic and trade frictions through dialogue and negotiation on the basis of mutual respect aligns with the common interests of China and the EU and meets the expectations of enterprises and peoples of both sides,” said the spokesman.
“We hope the EU side will continue advancing consultations with China with a constructive attitude, demonstrate sincerity and flexibility to find solutions, and avoid further escalation of trade frictions,” he said.
In a statement posted on the official website of China’s Ministry of Commerce earlier on Wednesday, a spokesperson of the ministry said that China does not approve of or accept the decision of the European Commission, and that China has already appealed to the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism over the issue.
China will continue to take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, according to Ministry of Commerce spokesperson.
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