BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s commerce minister expressed strong displeasure in a meeting with the European Union’s (EU) trade chief over the weekend, as Brussels plans to launch an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles, his ministry said on Tuesday.
European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis paid a four-day visit to China to reinforce the EU’s message that while there is no question of “decoupling” from China, a certain Many business questions arise, including the prevalence of government subsidies.
Wang Wentao said he was “very concerned and very unhappy that the EU is opening an investigation into countervailing duties applied to Chinese electric vehicles,” said a statement from the Ministry of Commerce.
“The compensatory measure proposed by the EU is a protectionist act that will affect the green cooperation between China and the EU and the stability of the global automobile industry.”
The European Commission said it would explore the possibility of imposing tariffs to protect European producers from a “deluge” of Chinese electric vehicle imports which it says benefit from state subsidies.
The EU’s trade deficit with China widened to $276.6 billion (€261 billion) in 2022, from $208.4 billion (€197 billion) the previous year , according to Chinese customs data.
(Reporting Joe Cash and Ella Cao; French version Mariana Abreu, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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