BEIJING (Reuters) – The European Commission’s decision to press ahead with tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars threatens to undermine decades of cooperation between China and the European Union and jeopardize climate change goals, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.
The European Union said on Friday that it would go ahead with imposing heavy tariffs on electric cars made in China, even after Germany, the bloc’s largest economy, rejected those duties. This dispute is the largest trade dispute with Beijing in a decade.
The state-run Xinhua news agency said the move revealed a “deep-rooted protectionist motive.”
“Rather than promoting cooperation, these tariffs risk sparking a trade conflict that could harm not only China-EU relations but also Europe’s ambition for a green transition,” she added.
“The way forward is clear: protectionist tariffs must be abandoned in favor of continued negotiations.”
European imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles have soared in recent years, raising concerns among some domestic electric vehicle producers that they could suffer significant losses from the wave of cheap Chinese electric vehicles.
A proposed tariff on China-made electric vehicles of up to 45% would cost automakers billions of extra dollars to bring cars into the bloc, and is set to be imposed from next month for five years.
The Commission, which oversees the bloc’s trade policy, said the tariffs would run counter to what it sees as unfair Chinese subsidies after a year-long anti-subsidy investigation. But she said on Friday that she would continue talks with Beijing.
A possible compromise might be to set minimum selling prices.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce expressed its strong opposition to the planned tariffs, describing them as “unfair, inconsistent and unreasonable.” It has launched a challenge to them at the World Trade Organization.
In what were seen as retaliatory moves, Beijing this year launched investigations into imports of brandy, dairy products and pork from the European Union.
The United States imposes a 100% tariff on imported Chinese electric cars.