German carmakers ‘afraid’ of China retaliation, economy minister warns

[beijingwalker]

German carmakers ‘afraid’ of China retaliation, economy minister warns​

Robert Habeck admits Franco-German divide on EU anti-subsidy probe against Chinese electric vehicles.

Berlin and Paris are “coming from different angles,” German Economy Minister Robert Habeck says | Tobias Schwarz / AFP via Getty Images

BY HANS VON DER BURCHARD
SEPTEMBER 23, 2023 8:00 PM CET

BERLIN — German carmakers are "afraid" that they could be hit by retaliation if the EU were to impose duties on Chinese electric vehicles as a result of a new anti-subsidy probe, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck warned.

In strikingly frank comments during a panel discussion in Berlin on Friday, Habeck also admitted that there is a Franco-German divide over the anti-subsidy investigation, which was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier this month and has sparked fears of a trade war with Beijing.

Habeck said that France, which had pushed strongly for such an EU probe into Chinese e-vehicles, was selling far fewer cars in China than German automakers and had therefore less to lose in a potential tit-for-tat escalation with Beijing over car tariffs.

"German cars are sold well in China," the German economy minister said at the Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Forum on GeoEconomics. "Now Ursula von der Leyen proposed that we should have a deep dive into the question if China is giving illegal, or not WTO-[compatible] subsidies" to its producers of electric cars, he said.

Habeck added: "The German automotive industry is afraid, rightly so," that if the Commission were to find evidence for such illegal state aid and then impose anti-subsidy duties on Chinese electric vehicles, then "we would have to fear counter-action."

He argued that "for France it’s not a problem because they’re not selling so many cars" on the Chinese market, which is why Berlin and Paris are "coming from different angles" when judging the impact and consequences of an EU anti-subsidy probe.

"It’s very, very hard to bring all these different views together,” Habeck said.

German industry officials, speaking under the condition of anonymity, had previously highlighted the diverging interests between Berlin and Paris on the subsidy probe and even claimed that French carmakers were seeing as a chance to harm their German competitors. Yet Habeck's remarks are the first time that a senior German official has openly admitted such a divide.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's top adviser on EU, economic and financial policies, Jörg Kukies, told the same Atlantic Council event earlier on Friday that the EU's anti-subsidy investigation against Chinese cars was "perfectly normal" and "totally legitimate." Yet Kukies stressed that such a probe must respect "very high standards."

"So you can’t just say they [the Chinese] are doing this and that and therefore we impose trade-related measures," Kukies said, adding that "the threshold of proof and evidence is very high."

German carmakers ‘afraid’ of China retaliation, economy minister warns

Robert Habeck admits Franco-German divide on EU anti-subsidy probe against Chinese electric vehicles.

www.politico.eu

 

[KAL-EL]

Porsche 911 Turbo S. No more needs to be said

 

[Abdul Rehman Majeed]

German carmakers ‘afraid’ of China retaliation, economy minister warns​

Robert Habeck admits Franco-German divide on EU anti-subsidy probe against Chinese electric vehicles.

Berlin and Paris are “coming from different angles,” German Economy Minister Robert Habeck says | Tobias Schwarz / AFP via Getty Images

BY HANS VON DER BURCHARD
SEPTEMBER 23, 2023 8:00 PM CET

BERLIN — German carmakers are "afraid" that they could be hit by retaliation if the EU were to impose duties on Chinese electric vehicles as a result of a new anti-subsidy probe, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck warned.

In strikingly frank comments during a panel discussion in Berlin on Friday, Habeck also admitted that there is a Franco-German divide over the anti-subsidy investigation, which was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier this month and has sparked fears of a trade war with Beijing.

Habeck said that France, which had pushed strongly for such an EU probe into Chinese e-vehicles, was selling far fewer cars in China than German automakers and had therefore less to lose in a potential tit-for-tat escalation with Beijing over car tariffs.

"German cars are sold well in China," the German economy minister said at the Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Forum on GeoEconomics. "Now Ursula von der Leyen proposed that we should have a deep dive into the question if China is giving illegal, or not WTO-[compatible] subsidies" to its producers of electric cars, he said.

Habeck added: "The German automotive industry is afraid, rightly so," that if the Commission were to find evidence for such illegal state aid and then impose anti-subsidy duties on Chinese electric vehicles, then "we would have to fear counter-action."

He argued that "for France it’s not a problem because they’re not selling so many cars" on the Chinese market, which is why Berlin and Paris are "coming from different angles" when judging the impact and consequences of an EU anti-subsidy probe.

"It’s very, very hard to bring all these different views together,” Habeck said.

German industry officials, speaking under the condition of anonymity, had previously highlighted the diverging interests between Berlin and Paris on the subsidy probe and even claimed that French carmakers were seeing as a chance to harm their German competitors. Yet Habeck's remarks are the first time that a senior German official has openly admitted such a divide.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's top adviser on EU, economic and financial policies, Jörg Kukies, told the same Atlantic Council event earlier on Friday that the EU's anti-subsidy investigation against Chinese cars was "perfectly normal" and "totally legitimate." Yet Kukies stressed that such a probe must respect "very high standards."

"So you can’t just say they [the Chinese] are doing this and that and therefore we impose trade-related measures," Kukies said, adding that "the threshold of proof and evidence is very high."

German carmakers ‘afraid’ of China retaliation, economy minister warns

Robert Habeck admits Franco-German divide on EU anti-subsidy probe against Chinese electric vehicles.

www.politico.eu

First EU should take action against Poland, Hungary and Slovakia on their unilateral Ukraine grain ban.

He argued that "for France it’s not a problem because they’re not selling so many cars" on the Chinese market, which is why Berlin and Paris are "coming from different angles" when judging the impact and consequences of an EU anti-subsidy probe.

France only cares about Airbus and French wine sales to China.

 

[beijingwalker]

EU is an organization full of internal conflicts of interests.

 

[Abdul Rehman Majeed]

EU is an organization full of internal conflicts of interests.

EU is a disfuntional organization and needs to be disbanded.

 

[Viet]

EU is a disfuntional organization and needs to be disbanded.

Nonsense

Ignore cheap Russian, Chinese propaganda

EU is the best invention since chopstick.

Every country wants to join the EU. Turkey tries to join since half of century. I think they will wait for another 50y. If EU accepts Asian countries I am pretty 100 percent sure, we in Vietnam will be the first that files the application.

 

[StraightEdge]

Nonsense

Ignore cheap Russian, Chinese propaganda

EU is the best invention since chopstick.

Every country wants to join the EU. Turkey tries to join since half of century. I think they will wait for another 50y. If EU accepts Asian countries I am pretty 100 percent sure, we in Vietnam will be the first that files the application.

Hah, this was few days back in European parliament.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1705177821273096590

 

[etylo]

Nonsense

Ignore cheap Russian, Chinese propaganda

EU is the best invention since chopstick.

Every country wants to join the EU. Turkey tries to join since half of century. I think they will wait for another 50y. If EU accepts Asian countries I am pretty 100 percent sure, we in Vietnam will be the first that files the application.

Why don't you Vietnamese paddle Vietnam landmass through SCS, Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean all the way to the North Sea, that will solve you people's headache once for all. Same goes with Japanese and Turks as they desperately want to be Europeans instead of Asians. Bad neighbors get away from Asia.

 

[Abdul Rehman Majeed]

Nonsense

Ignore cheap Russian, Chinese propaganda

EU is the best invention since chopstick.

Every country wants to join the EU. Turkey tries to join since half of century. I think they will wait for another 50y. If EU accepts Asian countries I am pretty 100 percent sure, we in Vietnam will be the first that files the application.

Every country wants to leave EU but join NATO.

NATO is the real deal.

EU is defunct.

UK did the right thing with Brexit.

Turkiye just applies for EU membership to highlight EU's hypocrisy towards the Muslims.

Eastern European natiosns like Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia etc are fed up with Western EU nations dictating the terms specifically on immigration, Woke Liberalism and Free trade.

Even Germans have had enough of EU BS.

Germany's far-right AfD derides EU as 'failed project'​

08/06/2023August 6, 2023
The populist party stopped short of calling for Germany to leave the EU. Instead, the AfD proposed a "federation of European nations" that preserves the members' sovereignty.

Germany's far-right AfD derides EU as 'failed project' – DW – 08/06/2023

The populist party stopped short of calling for Germany to leave the EU. Instead, the AfD proposed a "federation of European nations" that preserves the members' sovereignty.

www.dw.com

 

[StraightEdge]

EU just doesn't have any consensus on anything. They are in the midst of a slowdown, inflation, decreasing importance and simply just a skeleton of the former glory.

Just today I saw Audi visited Huawei office.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1705587392655323516

And then VW opened another major factory in Hefei -

Volkswagen Group China: EV plant in Hefei to start production 'soon'

Volkswagen Group China's electric vehicle plant in Hefei city will start production "soon," with a maximum annual capacity of 350,000 vehicles, Shanghai Securities Journal cited Chairman Ralf Brandstaetter as saying on Wednesday. (Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by...

www.reuters.com