On September 12, a spokesman for the European Commission said that the price commitment solutions submitted by the China Chamber of Commerce for Electrical and Mechanical Services (CCCEMS) and all electric vehicle producers in the EU’s countervailing case against electric vehicles have failed to meet the requirements, and that the European Union intends to reject the relevant price commitment applications.
In response, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on September 13 that China had noted the European side’s statement. The EC has ignored the sincerity and efforts of the Chinese industry, and without in-depth communication, it has proposed to reject the flexible solutions proposed by the Chinese industry, which is deeply disappointing to the Chinese side.
On August 20 and September 9, the EC released the disclosure of the final ruling on the EU’s countervailing subsidy case on electric vehicles twice, and still continued the wrong practice of ruling a high duty rate. China cannot agree with this and cannot accept it, but it has always maintained the greatest sincerity and endeavored to properly resolve friction through dialogue and consultation.
On August 24, the Chinese industry proposed a price commitment solution within the time limit of the investigation procedure in this case, which fully considered the demands of the European side and demonstrated maximum flexibility. The Chinese industry said that its price commitment proposal is fully compliant and enforceable, and all technical issues can be jointly resolved through consultation. It is understood that a number of EU member states have also shown greater interest in the price commitment solution.
The EC’s rejection of the relevant proposal without detailed assessment not only undermines the confidence of the Chinese industry to continue cooperation, but also does not meet the expectations of the EU member states, and is not in line with its public statement that it hopes to resolve the case through dialogue.
Since June 22, China and the EU agreed to start consultations on the EU’s countervailing subsidy case on electric vehicles, the working teams of both sides have intensively carried out more than 10 rounds of consultations, and the Chinese side has submitted tens of thousands of pages of facts and evidence to the European side, and also put forward a flexible solution, and made great efforts.
However, on the one hand, the European side claimed that it was willing to resolve the case through dialog, but on the other hand, it swiftly and hastily rejected the Chinese side’s proposal and has never offered any concrete solutions, completely failing to demonstrate its sincerity in moving forward. If the consultations fail to reach a consensus, the responsibility lies entirely with the European side.
The key to the current consultations lies in whether the European side really has the political will to solve the problem. China urges the European side to effectively implement the important consensus reached at the tripartite meeting between the leaders of China, France and the European Union on appropriately dealing with economic and trade frictions through dialog and consultation, and to show its sincerity and take action to seriously consider the reasonable concerns of the Chinese industry.
China has the greatest sincerity to properly resolve differences through dialog and consultation, and the greatest determination to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises. China will pay close attention to the follow-up progress of the European side and will take all necessary measures to firmly defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, launched a countervailing investigation into Chinese-made electric cars last year.
The European Commission announced on July 4 that it will impose temporary tariffs on Chinese imports of pure electric cars from July 5 for a tentative period of four months. At the end of the investigation, the European Commission can propose the imposition of final tariffs, which will be implemented in November for a period of five years, unless there is another solution.
In this regard, China has been maintaining communication and consultation with the European side.
On September 9, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei and his entourage held talks in Brussels, Belgium, with EC Director General for Trade Werndt, and once again expressed to the European side the hope that dialogue and consultation can properly resolve the economic and trade friction between China and the EU, and reasonably take care of each other’s concerns.
On September 19, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao will hold talks with EC Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Dombrowski in Brussels, and the business community at large is looking forward to a high-level meeting between China and the EU in the field of trade and economic cooperation during this critical period.
China expects this rare face-to-face high-level meeting to provide a good opportunity for China and the EU to properly deal with the issues related to the investigation of electric vehicles, and to promote the two sides to reach a solution that meets the common interests of both sides and is in line with the WTO rules at an early date, so as to promote the healthy and stable development of economic and trade relations between China and the EU.
According to media reports, people familiar with the matter said that the EU plans to hold a vote on September 25 on whether to impose final tariffs on electric cars imported from China. Unless 15 EU member states, representing 65 percent of the EU’s population, vote against it, it will pave the way for the EU to impose final tariffs from November. However, people familiar with the matter said the date of the vote could still change.