China-made new energy vehicles await shipment to Europe in Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo/Xinhua]
China does not agree with or accept the European Union’s decision to impose additional tariffs on electric vehicles manufactured in its market, pledging the country will take all necessary measures to safeguard the interests of its companies, said the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced on Tuesday that the additional tariffs will be imposed on China-made EVs from Thursday and will remain in place for the next five years.
Responding to this move, China has filed a complaint under the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism.
China has repeatedly pointed out that the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs contains numerous unreasonable and non-compliant aspects, effectively using the guise of “fair competition” to implement protectionist practices of “unfair competition”, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Commerce said in an online statement.
At the same time, China also notes that the European side has expressed their willingness to continue consultations with China on price commitments. China has always advocated for resolving trade disputes through dialogue and consultation, and has continually made every effort toward that goal, the commerce official said.
Currently, technical teams from both sides are conducting a new round of consultations, and China hopes the EU will adopt a constructive approach to jointly advance discussions with China. Both parties should take each other’s core concerns into account to reach a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible and avoid further escalation of trade frictions, said the statement.