Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Europe

EU risks its climate goals with EV tariff hikes

By ZHENG WANYIN in London | China Daily Global | Updated: 2024-08-20 09:16
Share
Share - WeChat

The European Union's decision to levy additional tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles could be counterproductive, as it puts the bloc's decarbonization goals at risk, experts said.

Stephen Perry, honorary president of the 48 Group Club, a London-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Sino-British trade cooperation, said the tariffs could slow down the EU's transition from petrol cars to electric vehicles.

"It is a good time for European carmakers to make the transition. They are not prepared for this. China will enter joint ventures in Europe if the approach of the EU is friendly. Otherwise, the situation may deteriorate," he said.

"Sharing is the way forward, not battles. Everyone needs to remember that we are all supposed to be cooperating to help reduce carbon emissions. China is sharing its progress."

"Now is not the time for the EU to compete with the United States for the tough-man title," Perry added, alluding to the general perception that the imposition of additional tariffs mirror the US strategy of pushing for de-risking and decoupling from China.

The European Commission on June 12 announced temporary countervailing duties on battery electric vehicles imported from China, based on its anti-subsidy probe launched last October.

The commission's primary executive arm provisionally concluded that the BEV value chain in China benefits from what it called "unfair" subsidization, which it claimed posed a threat to European BEV manufacturers.

Different manufacturers will be taxed differently. The initial decision imposes a 17.4 percent tariff on BYD, 19.9 percent on Geely, and 37.6 percent on SAIC. These are in addition to the existing 10 percent import tariff the EU imposes on all non-EU electric vehicle manufacturers.

While it is right for the EU to value its homemade goods, Chris Aylett, a research associate at the Environment and Society Centre at Chatham House, a London-based independent policy institute, highlighted in an analysis that the restrictions on Chinese BEVs jeopardize the union's legally binding climate targets of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and at least a 55 percent reduction by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

This is especially concerning given that clean products manufactured in Europe remain expensive, and EU-level investment in the industry falls "far short" with no signs of improvement, Aylett said, suggesting that the union will need to rely on China's imports.

"These targets are ambitious," he said. "With 2022 marking a reduction of 32.5 percent, accelerated and sustained action will be needed. This implies deploying mass-market clean technology products like solar panels and electric vehicles in very large numbers."

"And when it comes to cheap, clean technology, China is the undisputed world leader. Two decades of consistent and targeted industrial policy, combined with the benefits of a huge domestic market, mean that China today produces extremely competitively priced, high-quality, low-carbon goods," he added.

"All else being equal, anything which stems the flow of the cheapest low-carbon products will increase the cost of the transition and slow it down," he concluded.

Zulkafil Hassan Khan, president of the Society of International Relations & Law at the Institute of Legal Studies in Pakistan and director of the Pak-China Corridor of Knowledge, said in an op-ed for China Daily that the tariffs make the EU an "obvious loser", as it could fall behind other countries in realizing a green future.

"It would result in increasing the prices of the (EU) EVs because of which domestic automobile producers would face less competition," he said. "Simultaneously, the tariffs would open new markets for Chinese EV manufacturers."

He added that Chinese firms have started picking up shares in countries with small domestic auto industries, such as Australia and New Zealand, which shows that the EU is the obvious loser in this case.

Stephan Ossenkopp, a senior researcher at the Germany-based think tank Schiller Institute, pointed out in his op-ed piece for China Daily that "the real challenge for the European electric vehicle industry comes from developments within Europe, not imports from China."

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产一区二区不卡| 亚洲精品无码久久| 国内精品久久久久久久影视麻豆| 把极品白丝班长啪到腿软| 暖暖免费中国高清在线| 欧美日韩一区二区三区四区 | 亚洲国产欧美一区| 亚洲综合五月天| 亚洲欧洲无卡二区视頻| 国产精品毛片va一区二区三区| 处女的第一次电影| 成人观看天堂在线影片| 国语对白avxxxooo| 国产视频999| 国产男女爽爽爽免费视频| 国产永久免费观看的黄网站| 国产美女在线观看| 在线观看中文字幕| 国产成人免费a在线视频app | 夜夜影院未满十八勿进| 国产精品一区二区在线观看| 国产免费久久精品| 侵犯小太正bl浴室子开张了| 亚洲国产精品日韩在线观看 | 国产一区二区精品久久凹凸| 翁虹三级伦理电影大全在线观看| 激情六月在线视频观看| 欧美videos极品| 成人影院在线观看视频| 国内自拍视频一区二区三区| 国产成人AV无码精品| 免费看无码自慰一区二区| 亚洲免费视频观看| 国产无套护士丝袜在线观看| 在线成人综合色一区| 国产成人精品视频网站| 噼里啪啦动漫在线观看免费| 国产ts在线播放| 亚洲理论片在线观看| 久久伊人精品一区二区三区| 999久久久免费精品国产|