There will be consequences, everyone knows that, and China is making the threat more and more strong as the decision approaches. The European Union (EU) is due to release in the coming weeks the conclusions of its investigation launched in autumn 2023 into Chinese state subsidies for electric automobiles delivered in Europe.
This investigation could lead to the adoption of increased customs duties, embarrassing for Chinese brands which have already had their doors closed to the American market, after the announcement on May 14 by Joe Biden of the quadrupling of taxes on their imports.
Beijing is therefore putting strong pressure on Europe, and has gone through media or interest groups, and not directly through ministries, to threaten to target certain sectors by listing them. On May 18, an account close to the official CCTV channel on the social network Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, warned: “The European Union is launching investigation after investigation and China has reason to counterattack. » The account, Yuyuantantian, quotes in a long post a Chinese lawyer, Shen Qian, who notes: “The EU is very dependent on the Chinese market for agricultural products, including wine, dairy products, etc. » And later : “The Chinese market is also an outlet for sectors such as aeronautics. »
An unvarnished threat
Tuesday May 21 is the state daily Global Times which cited an official from the Automotive Research and Technology Center, Liu Bin, calling for higher customs duties on large-displacement vehicles with engines larger than 2.5 liters. On these cars, import taxes could be increased to 25% from the current 15%, suggests Mr. Liu, which “would have basically nothing to do with the protectionist actions of certain countries and regions”.
An unvarnished threat against sedans and SUVs from German brands, still very present in China, unlike French, Italian or Spanish cars. German brands have done much to distance themselves from the European investigation in recent months.
But China knows how to target politically sensitive subjects in member states. As early as January, she announced an investigation into subsidies for wine spirits, that is to say essentially French cognac. She considers that France is one of the main countries pushing for protection against the arrival of Chinese cars. Emmanuel Macron offered the Chinese president two bottles of cognac during his visit to France on May 6 and 7.
You have 49.82% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.