On Tuesday 17 September, Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, called on the EU and China to find a “negotiated solution” as an alternative to countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles. “We want to avoid a trade war with spiralling tariffs, which ultimately harms both sides”, he insisted, after talks with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.
On Thursday 19 September, Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for Trade, will meet with him to try to reach an agreement on this issue. The Commission says it is open to a negotiated solution, but is passing the quid to China.
MEP Jens Gieseke (EPP, German) believes it is legitimate for the EU to defend the interests of its companies through tariffs, but these must be “fair”. “If there is clearly distorted competition with excessive subsidies from China, we must have a real response, including tariffs”, he told Agence Europe. However, he agrees with Robert Habeck that a negotiated solution between the EU and China is the preferable option. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)