Recently, the European Commission announced plans to start customs registration of pure electric vehicles (EVs) imported from the Chinese mainland. This is part of the EU's \"anti-subsidy investigation\" into electric vehicles from the Chinese mainland. If the investigation finds that these EVs receive \"unfair subsidies,\" the EU may impose \"retroactive tariffs\" on these registered imported vehicles.
This move by the EU is good to none but worse to itself. While the EU positions itself as a \"leader\" in global green transformation and climate change response, it is still far from achieving its goal of zero carbon dioxide emissions for all new vehicles sold by 2035. In 2023, only 14.6 percent of cars sold in the EU were pure EVs. Attempting to prevent EVs from the Chinese mainland from entering Europe through the so-called \"anti-subsidy investigation\" will only hinder the EU's green transformation process.
This action of the EU reflects its own lack of competitiveness within the EV industry. In 2023, among the world’s top 10 EV brands, BYD from the Chinese mainland and the U.S.'s Tesla significantly outpaced European competitors. At the same time, EVs from the Chinese mainland are gradually entering the European market, posing tremendous competitive pressure on European automakers. Implementing customs registration measures while conducting the so-called \"anti-subsidy investigation\" will severely impact EU automakers.
On a deeper level, the EU's anti-subsidy investigation and customs registration measures against EVs from the Chinese mainland represent the specific implementation of the EU's \"de-risking\" policy towards the Chinese mainland. Since the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen introduced the term \"de-risking\" in March 2023, this concept has faced widespread questioning and criticism due to its ambiguity. By using this term, the EU almost equates \"the Chinese mainland\" with \"risk,\" subjecting normal EU-Chinese mainland economic and trade cooperation to scrutiny under the \"de-risking\" microscope. This logic of the EU that resembles a \"presumption of guilt\" has severely affected EU-Chinese mainland cooperation, with the EV industry being the latest victim of this EU policy.
In the EV industry, the development of Chinese mainland companies may expedite the transformation process of European companies, propelling mutual cooperation and complementarity in the field of EVs. In recent years, not only European brands like Volkswagen and Audi have expanded production capacity and sales networks in the Chinese mainland, but EV-related companies from the Chinese mainland such as CATL and BYD have also invested and established factories in Europe. This demonstrates that the Chinese mainland and the EU are highly complementary in the EV industry chain.
The EU should not be overly sensitive to the Chinese mainland and has no reason to view EVs from the Chinese mainland as a \"risk.\" Green transformation and the development of the EV industry are in the common interest of both the Chinese mainland and the EU, and both parties should work together to expand cooperation in the EV industry and share the dividends of green development.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
