To: roto who wrote (2546 ) 9/12/2024 10:04:01 AM From: roto Read Replies (1) | Respond to China-EU relations China / Diplomacy European Commission rejects Chinese EV price floor offer as tariff vote looms Powerful EU members now urging commission to rethink punitive import duties, while Beijing continues to push for trade dispute resolution Finbarr Bermingham in Brussels electric vehicle shipments amid intense wrangling over the highest-profile trade dispute between Brussels and Beijing in a decade.Several Chinese exporters submitted offers for “price undertakings”, which were deemed to be incompatible with World Trade Organization and European Union rules, commission trade spokesman Olof Gill confirmed on Thursday. “Our review focused on whether the offers would eliminate the injurious effects of subsidies and could be effectively monitored and enforced. The commission has concluded that none of the offers met these requirements,” Gill said at a media briefing in Brussels. “The commission remains open to a negotiated solution, but it must fully comply with WTO rules and fully remedy the injurious effects of subsidies identified,” he said, adding that the ball was now in Beijing’s court to propose a counter offer that would tick those boxes. debate over EV tariffs reached fever pitch. The EU has complained that Chinese imports are too cheap as a result of industrial subsidies, and therefore create unfair competition for local models.Powerful member states are now urging the commission to rethink the trade action, while Chinese officials continue to push for a negotiated resolution ahead of a crunch vote that would see the duties signed into law for a five-year period. The vote is expected to take place later this month. Chinese manufacturers targeted a fortnight ago during online hearings, including SAIC, Geely and BYD.Such a deal would closely mirror one reached 11 years ago during a trade war over cheap Chinese solar panel imports. That deal ended in tatters, leaving the EU’s nascent solar industry decimated by Chinese competition. Negotiations will continue in Brussels next week when Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao meets EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis. In the interim, influential EU members have been wavering on their support for the anti-subsidy inquiry. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (second from right), shown here with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday, has called on the European Union to rethink duties on Chinese EVs . Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday called on the EU to rethink the duties. Spain had previously been one of the biggest supporters of the probe.“I have to be blunt and frank with you that we need to reconsider – all of us, not only member states but also the [European] Commission,” Sanchez said during a visit to Kunshan in eastern China, following talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this week. trade war ,” Sanchez said when asked about how Spain plans to vote later this month.Olaf Scholz expressed support for Sanchez’s position, saying via his spokesman that this “direction of travel is one that we share”, Bloomberg reported.In an indicative vote in July, Spain voted in favour of the duties. In the coming binding vote, 15 of the bloc’s 27 member governments, accounting for 65 per cent of its population, will have to vote against the duties or they will come into force for five years. Germany, meanwhile, abstained – although Scholz has long been critical of any effort to disrupt the automotive trade. Before the chancellor’s public comment on the vote, German diplomats had said that Berlin’s abstention would remain, given that its ministries were divided on the topic. Both the economic and foreign ministries have supported the duties. In addition to Brussels, Wang intends to visit Rome next week, where he will surely be looking for good news on the EV front. In July, Italy also voted in favour of tariffs. Speaking to Reuters on Wednesday, Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said he expected a “negotiated solution” to the dispute. “They are discussing it in Geneva at the moment,” he said, referring to the WTO headquarters. However, even if populous Germany, Italy and Spain voted against the tariffs, it would not be enough to nix the duties unless several other members flip their votes, although the commission may find itself under pressure from powerful member states to reach a negotiated solution. archive.md
