Amid EV row with EU, China to ‘stand on grounds of fair competition’, Mofcom says
Beijing says the ‘normal trade and investment’ of China’s carmakers in Europe will be supported
At a regular news briefing on Thursday, Mofcom spokesman He Yadong responded to a report alleging that China had told its car manufacturers to halt big investments in the European countries that supported tariffs on Chinese EVs.
“China has always supported and encouraged any normal trade and investment opportunities in the Chinese automobile industry,” He said when asked if Beijing could confirm the report by Reuters on Wednesday.
“China will uphold an open and market-oriented approach, and will stand on grounds of fair competition when we cooperate with countries in the automobile industry.”
Beijing and Brussels have still shown their intention to continue with trade talks despite the EU tariffs on imported Chinese EVs having kicked in on Wednesday.
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Chinese-made electric vehicles face additional EU import tariffs of up to 38%
While such discussions would likely feature less wiggle room than the previous rounds of talks, given that the tariffs – as high as 43.5 per cent – have already kicked off, the two sides appeared to be still exploring available bargaining chips, which include making deals with individual Chinese carmakers on how they can adjust the price and volume of their imports for the European market.
