German automakers fear tariff escalation

CGTN Europe

German automakers fear that new European Union tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) will inevitably lead to retaliation.   Last year, the export of cars and car parts from Germany to China was worth almost $30 billion, a large proportion of German auto firms’ turnover.   CGTN’s Peter Oliver spoke to some automakers.   #EU #EVs #ElectricVehicles #China

Transcript

00:00The new EU tariffs on Chinese EVs have the German auto industry prepared for the worst.

00:07China has already placed tariffs on brandy from the EU, a move which is being challenged

00:12by the European Union at the World Trade Organization.

00:15Beijing is also looking at dairy and pork.

00:19In Germany, the auto industry's concern is that China will reciprocate on its own products.

00:25There's a likely scenario that China will retaliate, and you've heard first the ideas

00:33about how that retaliation could look like.

00:36And again, that would hit German manufacturers disproportionately inside Europe and add fuel

00:43to the fire, right?

00:44It makes the situation even worse.

00:47So we could see closure of plants.

00:49We could see layoffs of workers, and adding to the crisis that we're currently facing.

00:57Volkswagen is already discussing plant closures.

01:00While these are not directly linked to the China tariff issue, they show how the auto

01:05industry is under massive strain right now.

01:08Last year, the export of cars and car parts from Germany to China was worth just over

01:1429 billion dollars.

01:16Some of the major German car manufacturers rely on the China trade for a large proportion

01:21of their turnover.

01:23They will also be directly impacted by the new EU tariffs.

01:28It doesn't fit in.

01:29Full stop.

01:30We are also affected, if you have in mind that we produce a lot of minis and dikes free

01:36in China, we are also affected by the tariffs.

01:39And our point of view is to keep the world open.

01:44And we are against the tariffs.

01:46We can expect now tariffs from the other side, and I think it's completely wrong to have

01:51these tariffs in place.

01:53The EU Commission disagrees, saying that Chinese manufacturers benefited unfairly from subsidies

01:59which allow them to keep prices low.

02:01The Chinese Commerce Ministry responded, saying that they neither accept nor agree with the

02:07findings of the European side.

02:09A lot of attention is now turning to Germany to see how Berlin may try to influence a potential

02:16solution.

02:17The very practical negative consequences appear in Germany.

02:20So Germany will use its weight, whether it succeeds or whether a majority of countries

02:26that openly supported the Commission's position will succeed.

02:31That's too early to predict.

02:34The German side's message is that there simply has to be an alternative to tariffs.

02:39However, with the talks ongoing and the deadline now passed, when that comes and how it will

02:45look is still very much up for grabs.

02:48Peter Oliver, CGTN, Berlin.

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