Beijing won’t shift in EV tariff talks with EU, Chinese media report

Beijing will not make concessions as it negotiates on tariffs on electric vehicle imports with the EU, a social media account associated with the Chinese state broadcaster said.

“While China is always willing to seek consensus and resolve issues through communication in the face of friction, this does not mean that China will make concessions to ease the growing pressure from various trade disputes,” according to a posting on the account, Yuryuan Tantian, the South China Morning Post reported.

“Regardless of whether negotiations move, China will not make any concessions on its core interests,” the posting said.

The comments come ahead of planned talks on Sept. 19 between China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s trade commissioner, where Beijing will make a final bid to sway the EU not to impose hefty duties on made-in-China EVs.

The EU levies are intended to level the playing field to counter huge government subsidies that EU investigators found across the entire Chinese industry supply chain — from battery materials to shipping. 

The EU is planning to hold a vote on Sept. 25 on whether to impose definitive tariffs, as first reported by POLITICO.

Earlier this week, the European Commission rejected proposals made by Beijing — the content of which is confidential — to set minimum prices or volume caps on shipments of electric vehicles into the EU.