German Chancellor criticizes EU for imposing tariffs on electric vehicles from China once again

Brussels, December 20 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Scholz criticized the EU for imposing tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China during the EU summit on the 19th, and once again called for a prompt resolution through negotiations.

Scholz said that it is now necessary to quickly reach an agreement with China on tariff issues, and taking a confrontational stance is meaningless. He also proposed the establishment of an EU wide electric vehicle promotion program to improve the production and sales level of electric vehicles in Europe.

Scholz also called on the European Commission to take a more lenient stance towards car manufacturers who fail to meet their carbon dioxide emission targets. He said that in the current global automotive industry crisis, it is meaningless for the EU to impose high fines on relevant car manufacturers for failing to meet emission control targets.

According to current EU laws, starting from 2025, non compliant car companies may face huge fines under stricter carbon dioxide emission restrictions.

Recently, Italy, Poland, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and other countries jointly sent a letter to the European Commission expressing concerns about the worsening prospects of the already struggling automotive industry due to fines.

Analysts believe that the EU's insistence on imposing tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China has made it difficult for European consumers to buy high-quality electric vehicles at affordable prices, objectively exacerbating the difficulty of electrification transformation for EU car companies and making the EU's green transformation path even more bumpy.

Scholz criticized the EU's plan to impose tariffs on electric vehicles from China in the German Federal Parliament on October 16th this year. He emphasized that more than a dozen EU member states and many German car manufacturer executives are opposed to imposing tariffs on electric vehicles from China. He called on the EU and China to form relevant solutions as soon as possible.