SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese automakers have asked Beijing to increase tariffs on gasoline cars from Europe in retaliation for recent measures imposed by Brussels on electric vehicles made in China, reports on Wednesday the Global Times, a daily close to power.

The European Commission announced last week that it would provisionally impose tariffs of up to 38.1% on imports of Chinese electric vehicles from July, following a similar decision by the United States in May.

In response, China’s auto industry “asked the government to adopt firm countermeasures (and) suggested considering increasing temporary tariffs on gasoline cars with large-displacement engines,” reports the Global Times.

The daily specifies that this request was made during a closed meeting on Tuesday in which European car manufacturers also participated.

According to two sources familiar with the matter, the meeting was organized by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in Beijing in the presence of Chinese automobile manufacturers SAIC and BYD, as well as Europeans BMW, Volkswagen and Porsche.

Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and Renault also attended the meeting, two separate sources told Reuters.

The main objective of the meeting was to put pressure on Brussels and oppose the customs duties announced by the bloc last week in order to protect its automobile industry from Chinese competition, they added.

The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

European automakers declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“TARIFF WAR”

According to industry experts, both Europe and China have reasons to want to reach an agreement in the coming months to ease tensions.

The European Commission said on Wednesday it was examining the situation “with a view to discussing the possibility of finding a mutually acceptable solution.”

The Twenty-Seven fear that the Chinese model, based on production and debt, will flood the bloc with cheap products, including electric vehicles, as Chinese companies seek to increase their sales abroad in the face of to weak domestic demand.

“Personally, I think it is unfair to start a tariff war solely based on (China’s) capacity utilization rate and insufficient demand for Chinese new energy vehicles,” Zhang Yansheng said. , researcher at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE).

The Global Times reported in late May that a Chinese government-affiliated automobile research center suggested China increase its tariffs on imported gasoline sedans and sport utility vehicles with engines larger than 2, 5 liters to bring them to 25%, compared to 15% currently.

Exports of commercial vehicles with engines larger than 2.5 liters from Europe to China totaled 196,000 units in 2023, up 11 percent year-on-year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association. (CPCA).

Around 30% of German automakers’ sales are in China, with Berlin by far the largest exporter of cars with engines larger than 2.5 liters.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who is due to visit China this week, will not negotiate EU tariffs on Chinese electric cars, his spokesman told a conference on Wednesday. press, adding that the bloc must speak with one voice.

Last Monday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce also announced the opening of an anti-dumping investigation into imports of pork and its by-products from the EU, marking a further worsening of trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels.

(Reporting by Zhang Yan in Shanghai and Joe Cash in Beijing; with contributions from Ella Cao, Albee Zhang and Bernard Orr, Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; written by Joe Cash; Diana Mandiá, edited by Blandine Hénault)

Copyright © 2024 Thomson Reuters