Germany wants the EU to set tariffs on electric vehicles at a low level to avoid severe retaliation from Beijing.

Germany wants the EU to set tariffs on electric vehicles at a low level to avoid severe retaliation from Beijing.

Germany has launched an 11th-hour bid to avert a full-scale trade war between Europe and China, resisting French calls to hit Chinese electric vehicles with punitive duties.

With a decision by the European Commission imminent, both Paris and Berlin have ramped up their lobbying efforts — with conflicting messages on just how tough Ursula von der Leyen’s executive should get on Beijing.

The EU executive is expected to inform Chinese EV-makers on Wednesday of temporary duties resulting from its probe into unfair state subsidies. EU member countries would then vote this fall to confirm the duties — making it vital for von der Leyen to pitch them at a level that the bloc’s two heavyweights can live with.

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    1•18 days ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Germany has launched an 11th-hour bid to avert a full-scale trade war between Europe and China, resisting French calls to hit Chinese electric vehicles with punitive duties.

    With a decision by the European Commission imminent, both Paris and Berlin have ramped up their lobbying efforts — with conflicting messages on just how tough Ursula von der Leyen’s executive should get on Beijing.

    EU member countries would then vote this fall to confirm the duties — making it vital for von der Leyen to pitch them at a level that the bloc’s two heavyweights can live with.

    Two months after Scholz was widely seen to have kowtowed to Beijing, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck is expected to head to China next week on a further damage-control mission.

    “Something around 20-30 percent would give European manufacturers some breathing space to accelerate their investments in the sector and maintain their market share in Europe,” Elvire Fabry, senior research fellow at the Jacques Delors Institute in Paris, said.

    Over the past decade, BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz have sold 19.2 million cars in China, making up 30 to 40 percent of each automaker’s global sales, according to data from Schmidt Automotive Research.

    The original article contains 779 words, the summary contains 196 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!