EU tariffs on Chinese EVs popular with industry, but China’s trade chamber warns against implications

Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, shared his view, saying: “We are responding. We are not the aggressor; we are merely levelling the playing field.” The problem of China’s government subsidies, he said, is exacerbated by low domestic consumption in the country, which makes its companies ever more dependent on exports.

“They are essentially exporting their domestic growth imbalances to the rest of the world,” Tordoir said. He added that negotiations between the EU and China would also make it unlikely to yield any progress.

Tordoir was highly critical of China, which he said has been “utterly unwilling” to address these imbalances while also refusing “to roll back on subsidies” despite repeated pleas by EU leaders.

“The EU has a very legitimate case to say we’re not willing to accept this massive shock coming from their surge in exports, which has nothing to do with free trade,” Tordoir said.