**From The Telegraph’s Senior Economics Reporter, Eir Nolsøe:**
Brussels has launched a probe into Chinese state subsidies for electric vehicle makers, as it vowed to protect Europe’s car industry from a “race to the bottom”.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen warned that subsidies for Chinese car makers risked undermining competition in the bloc and posed a threat to the continent’s manufacturing sector.
Ms von der Leyen, who is the president of the European Union’s executive arm, said during a speech at the bloc’s parliament in Strasbourg: “Global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies.”
The investigation is the first step towards possible higher import duties on Chinese-made vehicles. Cars imported from China currently face a tariff of 10pc when coming into the EU.
The bloc already imposes tough tariffs on a range of Chinese imports to prevent “dumping” of cheap goods, ranging from steel to optical fibre cable.
The focus on electric vehicles comes as Chinese manufacturers ramp up exports in response to flagging demand at home as the economy slows. Exports have jumped 68pc so far this year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
European manufacturers have complained that they cannot compete with these cheap imports, arguing that prices are being kept artificially low by weaker safety standards, cheap but polluting power sources and state subsidies.
Ms von der Leyen said: “Europe is open for competition but not for a race to the bottom.”
“This is distorting our market and as we do not accept this distortion from inside our market, we do not accept this from the outside.”
Better be quick about buying a cheap Chinese car then….
This would seem to feed that narrative that China is the enemy in some way. It’s a narrative I do not buy into.
Aren’t Brussels pro open market competition?
Why is the EU pretending EU members don’t subsidise car manufacturing?
EU: Don’t buy good value EV Chinese cars. Buy expensive EU produced petrol and EV cars instead!
The lobbying efforts from European car manufacturers seems to be going well.
Next up from EU: no more need for EVs. Heated seats must be paid by subscription, for no less than 10 Euro per month
>cheap but polluting power sources
THE CLUE of European energy transformation. Just to have any pretext to protect domestic industry.
​
And f@##@k the ordinary citizens, who have to suffer higher prices of both energy and consumer goods.
I’m not gona waste 40 thousand euros for a f* car, even if it is VW. As long as the car has passed the Euro-NCAP, I will buy chinesse.
Also I want to point that China is a big market for German car industry. No for the french tho. So this will be a battle between France and Germany, and as long as Germans can sell cars in China, I will be able to buy cheaper chinesse cars.
Why doesn’t the EU subsidy its EV industry given the seriousness of the climate change problem?
European manufacturers slept on Innovation for the last twenty years and now have to resort to protectionism so they can compete with Chinese companies on their home turf. Classic. Won’t help them on an other market on the world of course, but at this point I guess they stopped caring about that.
Leading paragraph:
> China’s EV manufacturers are increasingly looking to the West as domestic demand falters
Oh no, China only produces more than 2 times the number of cars Europe does and is almost back to pre-covid production while Europe is recovering much slower. Now China has to resort to selling cars to the large shrinking middle class of Europe, they must be truly desperate.
11 comments
**From The Telegraph’s Senior Economics Reporter, Eir Nolsøe:**
Brussels has launched a probe into Chinese state subsidies for electric vehicle makers, as it vowed to protect Europe’s car industry from a “race to the bottom”.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen warned that subsidies for Chinese car makers risked undermining competition in the bloc and posed a threat to the continent’s manufacturing sector.
Ms von der Leyen, who is the president of the European Union’s executive arm, said during a speech at the bloc’s parliament in Strasbourg: “Global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies.”
The investigation is the first step towards possible higher import duties on Chinese-made vehicles. Cars imported from China currently face a tariff of 10pc when coming into the EU.
The bloc already imposes tough tariffs on a range of Chinese imports to prevent “dumping” of cheap goods, ranging from steel to optical fibre cable.
The focus on electric vehicles comes as Chinese manufacturers ramp up exports in response to flagging demand at home as the economy slows. Exports have jumped 68pc so far this year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
European manufacturers have complained that they cannot compete with these cheap imports, arguing that prices are being kept artificially low by weaker safety standards, cheap but polluting power sources and state subsidies.
Ms von der Leyen said: “Europe is open for competition but not for a race to the bottom.”
“This is distorting our market and as we do not accept this distortion from inside our market, we do not accept this from the outside.”
**Continue reading ⤵️**
[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/09/13/eu-pushback-china-flood-cheap-electric-cars/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/09/13/eu-pushback-china-flood-cheap-electric-cars/)
Better be quick about buying a cheap Chinese car then….
This would seem to feed that narrative that China is the enemy in some way. It’s a narrative I do not buy into.
Aren’t Brussels pro open market competition?
Why is the EU pretending EU members don’t subsidise car manufacturing?
EU: Don’t buy good value EV Chinese cars. Buy expensive EU produced petrol and EV cars instead!
The lobbying efforts from European car manufacturers seems to be going well.
Next up from EU: no more need for EVs. Heated seats must be paid by subscription, for no less than 10 Euro per month
>cheap but polluting power sources
THE CLUE of European energy transformation. Just to have any pretext to protect domestic industry.
​
And f@##@k the ordinary citizens, who have to suffer higher prices of both energy and consumer goods.
I’m not gona waste 40 thousand euros for a f* car, even if it is VW. As long as the car has passed the Euro-NCAP, I will buy chinesse.
Also I want to point that China is a big market for German car industry. No for the french tho. So this will be a battle between France and Germany, and as long as Germans can sell cars in China, I will be able to buy cheaper chinesse cars.
Why doesn’t the EU subsidy its EV industry given the seriousness of the climate change problem?
European manufacturers slept on Innovation for the last twenty years and now have to resort to protectionism so they can compete with Chinese companies on their home turf. Classic. Won’t help them on an other market on the world of course, but at this point I guess they stopped caring about that.
Leading paragraph:
> China’s EV manufacturers are increasingly looking to the West as domestic demand falters
Oh no, China only produces more than 2 times the number of cars Europe does and is almost back to pre-covid production while Europe is recovering much slower. Now China has to resort to selling cars to the large shrinking middle class of Europe, they must be truly desperate.