Reference News website reported on April 12 that Reuters reported on April 10 that an EU Commission spokesperson said on April 10 that the EU and China have agreed to negotiate on the minimum price of Chinese electric vehicles to replace the tariffs imposed by the EU on such products since last year.
Earlier on April 10, Germany's Handelsblatt reported that relevant negotiations had been launched.
The EU spokesperson said that EU Trade Commissioner Šefčovič had held video talks with China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, and both sides agreed to negotiate on the minimum price of electric vehicles.
In October last year, the EU raised the tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles to a maximum of 45.3%. However, Brussels and Beijing proposed replacing tariffs with a minimum price, i.e., import car price commitments.
The European Commission said it was willing to continue negotiating with China on alternative solutions to tariffs.
These dialogues aim to resolve long-standing trade disputes. Previously, Beijing took retaliatory trade actions, affecting French cognac producers.
The German Association of the Automobile Industry welcomed the dialogue between the EU and China, calling tariffs a "mistake" and hoping both sides can solve problems through negotiation.
According to reports from the Handelsblatt website on April 10, the tariff war initiated by former US President Donald Trump is driving countries around the world to form new alliances: The two major economies of the EU and China clearly hope for closer cooperation in the future and emphasize the benefits of open markets. According to information obtained by our newspaper, this has already involved very specific steps.
Both sides agreed at the high political level to negotiate the cancellation of punitive tariffs imposed by the EU on Chinese electric vehicles.
Reportedly, Brussels and Beijing are launching new attempts to resolve the dispute over the punitive tariffs imposed by the EU on Chinese electric vehicles.
The agreement sought by both sides goes beyond the issue of tariffs. In the negotiations, they are exploring a new compromise solution: introducing a minimum price to replace punitive tariffs. For China, the benefit is that Chinese automakers can retain the difference between their original sales prices and the agreed minimum price. For the EU, there is no need to collect the difference through tariffs. Meanwhile, EU manufacturers will continue to be protected from unfair competition.
Brussels has viewed resuming negotiations as a concession to Beijing. Beijing also released signals to ease relations and postponed the imposition of punitive tariffs on European spirits. (Translated by Wang Dongdong and Nie Litao)
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7492235572212351488/
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