BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Friday that the European Union (EU) was taking the risk of triggering a “trade war” with Beijing by in particular stoking tensions around electric vehicles.
“The responsibility lies entirely with the European Union,” a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
China hopes the EU can manage trade disputes through dialogue and avoid escalating tensions or letting them spiral out of control, the spokesperson added.
Last week, the European Commission decided on customs duties of up to 38.1% on imports of electric vehicles from China, despite strong protests from Beijing, which announced shortly after the opening of an investigation into subsidies granted to European pork imported into China.
The communication from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce came an hour before the visit to Beijing of the German Minister of the Economy, Robert Habeck, whose country is very reluctant to tighten European trade policy towards China.
Upon his arrival in the Chinese capital, Robert Habeck said that Germany’s strategy towards China needed to be revised, particularly in the political, economic and climate areas.
“Having a strategy means looking ahead and describing at least a path to the future, even if nothing goes as planned,” he said at a reception at the German embassy.
He added that the German government was not taking into account the European approach and called for a common strategy.
“Europe is important and we must stand together,” he said.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez and Sarah Marsh; written by Ella Cao, Ethan Wang and Ryan Woo, Blandine Hénault and Pauline Foret for the French version, edited by Tangi Salaün)
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