Tesla and European Automakers Set to be Big Losers in EU-China Tariff Row

来源：钛媒体

BEIJING,October6 (TiPost)—TheEuropeanUnion(EU)’sprobeintoelectricvehicleimportedfromChinamayhavetriggeredamajorbattlethatdampensautomakersacrosstheworld,includingthoseintheEurope.

Credit：VisualChina

TeslaandEuropeanautomobilemanufacturerslikeBMWandRenaultwillbepartofEU’sinvestigation,theFinancialTimesreported.TheprobetargetsnotlimitedtoEVsfromChinesebrands,theExecutiveVicePresidentoftheEuropeanCommissionValdisDombrovskisconfirmed."Itcanbealsootherproducers’vehiclesiftheyarereceivingproduction-sidesubsidies,”DombrovskistoldtheFinancialTimes.Duringtheevidence-gatheringthatprecipitatedtheEU'sannouncementofitsprobe,Teslawasamongthecompaniesfoundtohavelikelybenefited,peoplefamiliarwiththemattertoldBloomberg.

Tesla’sGigafactoryShanghaiexportstheModel3toEurope,RenaultexportstheDaciaSpringEVtoEuropefromChina,BMWexportsitsChina-builtiX3EVtoEuropeandsomeVolvomodelsaswellasPolestarmodelssoldinEuropearebuiltinChina.ABloombergreportnotedthatChinaisthebiggestdestinationforGermany’spremiumvehicles.ThecountrymadeupmorethanathirdofglobalsalesofBMW’s7-seriesandMercedes’S-Classlastyear,andmorethanonethirdofVolkswagensubsidiaryAudi’sglobalsalesaremadeinChina.BernsteinanalystsDanielRoeskaandEuniceLeeexpectedthreeGermanluxury-carmakers—Audi,Mercedes-BenzandBMWareatthegreatestrisksofsufferingabighitshouldthetradedisputeescalate.

Earlierthisweek,EUofficiallylaunchedananti-subsidyinvestigationintoEVsfromChina,aboutthreeweeksafterEuropeanCommissionPresidentUrsulavonderLeyenannouncedEU’sexecutivebodyisgoingtotaketheaction.Globalmarkets“arenowfloodedwithcheaperChineseelectriccars”,andtheirpriceis“keptartificiallylowbyhugestatesubsidies”,whichisdistortingEuropeanmarket,vonderLeyensaidinherstateoftheunionstresstotheEuropeanparliamentonSeptember13.HeadoftheexecutivearmsaidEuropeisopenforcompetition,notforaracetothebottom.WhilestressingEUwoulddefenditselfagainstunfairpractices,shecautioned“itisvitaltokeepopenlinesofcommunicationanddialoguewithChina”.Theofficialreiteratedde-risking,insteadofdecoupling,fromChina.

TheEuropeanCommissionwilldecidewhethertoimposetariffsmorethanthecurrent10%standardrateforcarsinthecoming13months.ThepossibletariffwillaffectnotjustChineseautomakersbutalsoforeignbrandsthatproducevehiclestheresuchasTesla,RenaultandBMW.Themovemayresultintariffsclosetothe27.5%levelalreadyimposedbytheU.S.onChineseEVs,BloombergcitedpeoplefamiliarwiththematterfollowingvonderLeyen’sannouncement.

“TheEUhasnointentiontodecouplefromChina,”Dombrovskissaidaheadofthe10thChina-EUHigh-LevelEconomicandTradeDialogueheldlastweek.EUhasaveryimbalancedtraderelationshipwithChinaandneedstoprotectitselfinsituationswhenitsopennessisabused,theEU’schieftradenegotiatorsaid.DuringhisvisitinChinaforthedialogue,Dombrovskisrevealedtheprobewillbefact-basedandinlinewithEUandWorldTradeOrganizationrules,andaddedhecannotprejudgetheoutcome.HenotedsharesofChineseEVbrandsinEUmarkethaverisenfromlessthan1%to8%inthepasttwoorthreeyears.

ChinafeltverydissatisfiedwithEU’sinvestigationasitisbasedonsubjectiveassumption,lacksadequateevidence,anddoesn’tadheretoWorldTradeOrganizationrules,aspokespersonoftheMinistryofCommercecommentedonWednesdayrightafterEU’sopeninginvestigation.Inthehigh-leveldialoguewithEUrepresentativesinlateSeptember,Chinahascalledthesubsidyprobe“nakedprotectionistbehavior”underthecoverof“fairtrade”,andcautionedsuchattemptwillseverelydisruptanddistorttheglobalautomotiveindustrialandsupplychain,ofwhichEUhasapart,andimposenegativeimpactonChinaandEU’seconomicandtraderelationship,thespokespersonsaid.ThepersonsaidBeijingwillkeepacloseeyeonEU’sfollowinginvestigativeproceduresandfirmlyprotectrightsandinterestsofChinesefirms.

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