EU pushes ahead with tariffs for Chinese EVs

CGTN Europe

It will now cost far more to buy Chinese made electric cars in Europe, after the EU pushed ahead with higher import charges.   CGTN’s William Denselow has the story.

Transcript

00:00Well, Paul, we heard from a senior EU official speaking to the press on Tuesday that said that while

00:07investigations have been ongoing, really there hasn't been agreement on any single point.

00:12This was the deadline this week for these tariffs to come effect after

00:17European member states at the start of this month, on October 4th,

00:21put to a vote whether to put in these tariffs. The voting

00:26was in favour, 10 member states voting in favour,

00:3012 abstained, 5 against, which does show, however, that while these tariffs have come into effect, it remains a

00:36politically divisive issue. We've heard

00:39from a spokesperson for Germany's

00:43economy ministry

00:44stating essentially that they stand for open markets. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that he fears this could lead to an

00:51economic cold war. However, the playing field

00:55officials tell me that these tariffs get a little closer to achieving that. Of course, that's something that

01:02China has rejected. China's

01:04Chamber of Commerce to the EU saying that this is protectionist and arbitrary.

01:11And so, Will, what happens next and is the European Union open to a new round of negotiations with China to try to resolve this?

01:22Well, we've had eight rounds of official technical talks and the message from both the Chinese

01:30Commerce Ministry as well as the

01:32trade delegation here in Brussels and the European Commission is that they both sides saying that they hope to find a mutually

01:40beneficial solution and that both sides are very much open to

01:45negotiations and for a next round of talks

01:48that could be set to take place in Beijing in the future.

01:52However, we heard from the Trade Commissioner Commissioner Dombrowskis in recent days saying that significant gaps

02:00remain in these discussions. The EU has proposed really a dual track

02:06discussions directly with Beijing and with the

02:10Commerce Ministry as well as

02:12negotiations under price undertakings with individual companies. That though has been rejected by Beijing saying that that would undercut

02:20those formal negotiations.

02:22So, there are certainly hopes that trade talks could continue. Both sides saying they want a speedy and

02:30amicable resolution, but of course plenty of divisions still need to be overcome.

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