BEIJING: China on Friday initiated dispute settlement proceedings against the EU’s provisional anti-subsidy measures against Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) at the WTO to safeguard the interests of its EV industry’s development and global green transition cooperation, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Friday.
Experts said that the move suggests that China has legitimately resorted to the multilateral mechanism to address the China-EU dispute over provisional tariffs on China-made electric cars. Mediation through the WTO could lead to some new changes in discussion mechanisms within the bloc, they noted.
Industry insiders also urged the EU to face up to healthy competition with China in the EV sector and ramp up green cooperation, in order to maintain the stable development of bilateral economic and trade ties as well as jointly address climate change.
According to the MOFCOM official website, the ministry noted that the findings in the EU’s preliminary ruling lack factual and legal basis, seriously violate WTO rules, and jeopardize the overall situation of global cooperation in addressing climate change.
We urge the EU to immediately rectify its wrong practices and jointly safeguard China-EU economic and trade cooperation and the stability of the EV industry and supply chains, said the ministry.
“The MOFCOM’s move is a legitimate response by China to the EU’s investigation and subsequent decision to impose provisional tariffs on Chinese EVs against WTO rules. It also shows that China uses the multilateral platform to resolve bilateral trade disputes, which will help keep the bilateral economic and trade relations on track,” Jian Junbo, deputy director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Friday.
Jian noted that China is taking diversified approaches to addressing the issue, in order to avoid bringing things to an impasse.
“Mediation through the WTO indicates China’s desire to resolve the dispute started by the EU through talks and minimize its harm to car companies in both countries, as the cooperation between Chinese and European carmakers has become inextricably intertwined,” Zhang Xiang, secretary general of the International Intelligent Vehicle Engineering Association, told the Global Times on Friday.
China’s move comes after a Financial Times report on Monday said that Valdis Dombrovskis, the European commissioner for trade, said EU member states are likely to support the imposition of proposed tariffs on Chinese EVs in November.
