Chinese car tariffs not enough - EU needs massive industrial investments
China/Car tariffs
Today, Members of the European Parliament will debate the Council's decision to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
Anna Cavazzini, Greens/EFA MEP, Chair of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee and Member of the Trade Committee, comments;
“The decision was right and necessary. A level playing field is the basic prerequisite for fair trade. The EU must take a clear stance in response to pressure from the Chinese government. The Chinese leadership understands a clear language and reaction. The possibility of countervailing duties strengthens the EU's position in the negotiations and an agreement is still possible.
“Chancellor Olaf Scholz has put the Chinese in the driving seat and is, together with Victor Orban and Robert Fico, alienating his European partners. The chancellor's no vote puts Germany on the sidelines and weakens the EU on the path to a genuine European foreign economic policy.”
Sara Matthieu MEP, Member of the Industry, Research and Energy and Employment and Social Affairs committees, comments:
"China's unfair subsidisation of its own car industry forces the EU to protect our car manufacturers. The international rules of the World Trade Organisations are clear and unambiguous. The fundamental problem is the lack of a genuine European industrial policy. In the long term, only clear and urgent actions to create investments in infrastructure and battery production, socially fair incentives for consumers to shift from ICE's to EV's and ensuring investment certainty by staying on course to achieve our CO2 targets, will make our car industry competitive.
“To guarantee European jobs, this firm approach on Chinese imports needs to go hand in hand with green industrial policy that ensures participation and wellbeing of workers. Otherwise we will never catch up with Chinese carmakers.”
More:
Watch the plenary debate live from 13:30, with speeches by Anna Cavazzini and Sara Matthieu
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/en/home.html
