Three major German car companies have spoken out against the EU's imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

On October 4th local time, representatives of EU member states voted to pass the final ruling draft of the electric vehicle anti subsidy case submitted by the European Commission, proposing to impose final anti subsidy taxes on electric vehicles originating in China. Although the European Commission claims that the relevant proposal has received necessary support from member states, there are still different voices within the EU. Volkswagen Group CEO Obomu said in an interview on the 6th that Chinese car manufacturers should be allowed to avoid tariffs by investing in the EU, and he is concerned that China's retaliatory tariffs may harm the interests of European car companies.

In the 4th vote, 5 out of 27 EU member states voted against, including Germany, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia. 10 countries, including France and Italy, voted in favor, and 12 countries abstained.

German Federal Chancellor Scholz expressed his hope to resolve the dispute through negotiations with China before the vote. He emphasized that the EU's response should not cause harm to itself. According to the German television channel Mainichi Shimbun, German Finance Minister Lindner immediately warned the EU not to escalate the trade dispute into a trade war, stating that the European Commission's proposal of temporary countervailing duties "taking risks in this way" was wrong. He admitted that the trade war with China would do more harm than good to the European automotive industry and called for resolving differences through negotiations with China. Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and Foreign Minister Szijjardo firmly oppose the EU's imposition of tariffs, stating that it will harm the EU's own competitiveness. Slovenia's Minister of Economy, Tourism and Sports, Matejaj Khan, opposes the imposition of tariffs and calls for more practical cooperation with China.

Industry insiders in the automotive industry have also expressed opposition. In a statement released shortly after the vote, Hildegard M ü ller, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), stated that the voting result would seriously damage global cooperation, and the negative impact of tariffs would far outweigh their superficial benefits. Mueller urges the EU to continue finding a solution through negotiations.

The three major German car manufacturers, Volkswagen Group, Mercedes Benz, and BMW Group, have also issued statements publicly expressing their opposition. BMW Group stated in a statement on the 6th that the EU's imposition of additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles is completely impractical, as it not only fails to enhance the competitiveness of European car manufacturers, but may also harm businesses operating globally. The imposition of tariffs will also limit the supply of electric vehicles to European consumers, thereby delaying the low-carbon development process of the European transportation industry.

According to Deutsche Welle, the largest transportation association in Germany, the All German Car Club, recently released a survey showing that 59% of German respondents would consider buying a Chinese car. When it comes to the reasons for choosing Chinese brands, 83% of respondents believe that high cost-effectiveness is the main reason, while 55% and 37% of respondents respectively think that the innovative technology and styling design of Chinese electric vehicles are very attractive.

On the 4th, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated that China firmly opposes the EU's final draft, but also notes the EU's political will to continue resolving the issue through negotiations. The China Europe technical team will continue negotiations on October 7th. The Chinese side hopes that the European side will soberly realize that imposing tariffs cannot solve any problems, but will only shake and hinder the confidence and determination of Chinese enterprises in European investment cooperation. The Chinese side urges the European side to truly demonstrate practical actions to implement political will and return to the correct track of resolving trade frictions through consultations. China will also take all measures to firmly safeguard the interests of Chinese enterprises.