After the European Union imposed new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, China sent an official complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) asking Brussels to change its stance.
Beijing’s latest move, “thinly veiled” in diplomatic language, shows that China will not sit quietly while the EU increases pressure on electric vehicles, which are sold on the European market.
In the lawsuit, the Chinese accuse the EU of having no “factual and legal basis” for the tariff increases and claim that it violates WTO rules by abusing trade remedies measures, China’s Ministry of Commerce adds that it filed the lawsuit to protect the development interests of the electric vehicle industry and the global green transformation cooperation.
China has requested consultations with the EU and has given a deadline of 60 days to reach an agreement before the WTO intervenes with a dispute panel.
A ministry spokesman told Bloomberg that China asks the EU to face up to mistakes and immediately correct its illegal practices, and to jointly maintain the stability of the global electric vehicle supply chain and China-EU economic and trade cooperation.
In the months since the introduction of the tariffs, Chinese and EU officials have held talks in an attempt to negotiate a mutually acceptable resolution. However, there was no agreement before the introduction of tariffs at the end of October.
SAIC was hit with the biggest tariff increases of all others, as they amount to 35.3 percent. The increase for Geely is 18.8 percent, while BYD has to pay an additional duty of 17 percent. These figures are in addition to the existing 10 percent duty.
Marcos Sefcovic, the EU’s trade chief, is in China this week, a sign that Brussels has not completely given up on reaching a deal.
Meanwhile, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao recently held a meeting with French officials and urged them to “push” the EU towards a solution.
Last week, it was revealed that China’s commerce ministry had told local carmakers to pause investment plans in countries that voted for the tariffs, while encouraging investment in countries that voted against. Among them is Germany, one of the five member states that opposed the new tariffs.
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