欧洲国家计划在周五通过一项决议，将对中国进口电动汽车征收高达 45% 的关税，这被视为是为了保护欧洲汽车制造商免受中国政府补贴带来的大量廉价车辆冲击的措施。
根据 27 个欧盟成员国的投票结果，对特斯拉等中国制造商的汽车征收从 7.8% 到 35.3% 不等的新关税。其他汽车制造商将面临介于这两个百分比之间的税率。现有的欧盟进口汽车税为 10%，而这些新关税将在此基础上增加。
布鲁塞尔领导人称，此举旨在为欧洲和中国汽车制造商创造公平竞争环境，而非封锁欧盟市场对中国汽车的开放。
然而，欧洲各国对于这一措施存在分歧。法国、意大利与波兰支持增加关税，但德国对此保持反对意见；西班牙原本也表示支持，但在最近访问中国后，该国总理要求布鲁塞尔考虑妥协方案。
要阻止这项决议通过，需要占欧盟总人口 65% 的 15 国家投反对票。
中国领导人已花费数周时间游说欧洲首都，与成员国领导人及布鲁塞尔代表会谈，力图达成协议以避免关税生效。尽管按照法律必须投票，但欧洲领导人表示仍愿意继续与中国在该问题上进行谈判。
这些新关税是基于欧盟对来自中国的电动汽车补贴调查而制定的。欧盟委员会暗示，即使进行了投票，也准备好与中方就该议题继续谈判；即便已实施关税，在达成协议的前提下，双方也有机会将其撤销。
欧盟委员会贸易防御部门负责人马丁·卢卡斯在欧洲议会表示：“调查结论并不意味着解决途径的终结。”
新的关税将于 10 月 31 日生效，并持续五年。相比之下，美国、加拿大或土耳其对中国电动汽车施加的关税则高达 100%；但这些欧盟的新税率仍然较低。
法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙推动了法国对增加关税的支持，坚称中国政府为电动汽车制造商提供的国家补贴“不可承受”且损害了欧洲市场。他强调，“我们必须要维护行业各领域内的公平竞争环境。”
德国对此持反对意见，该国的汽车制造商包括宝马、奔驰与大众等，在中国有重大投资，担心中国会对其采取报复行动。
德国总理奥拉夫·舒尔茨表示，欧盟必须与中国就电动汽车问题继续谈判。他建议关注钢铁等行业，这些领域也受到来自中国的竞争压力。
汽车行业对欧洲至关重要，提供了 1380 多万个就业岗位，并占欧盟经济产出的7% 。然而，在需求低迷背景下，制造商正在考虑裁员和关闭工厂，从比利时到德国再到意大利，无一幸免。
尽管欧洲整体电动汽车市场需求下滑，但中国在欧洲市场的份额却急剧增长。过去三年间，中国生产的电动汽车车主注册量增加了七倍，据欧盟委员会数据。
分析人士指出，对与中国的贸易战担忧可能被高估了。鉴于中国日益依赖欧洲市场，舒尔茨表示：“如果欧盟征收关税，中国将作出回应，但我不认为这会是过度的回应。”
新闻来源：www.nytimes.com
原文地址：Europe Expected to Approve Higher Tariffs on Electric Cars From China
新闻日期：2024-10-03
原文摘要：
European countries are expected on Friday to approve an increase in tariffs to as much as 45 percent on electric cars imported from China, a move that officials said would help protect European carmakers from a glut of cheaper vehicles subsidized by Beijing. The vote, by the 27 countries in the European Union, will impose additional tariffs ranging from 7.8 percent for Tesla cars made in China to 35.3 percent for vehicles made by the Chinese automaker SAIC, with duties for other automakers falling somewhere in between. Those rates will come on top of the European Union’s existing 10 percent tariffs on all imported cars. Leaders in Brussels say the duties are aimed at creating a level playing field for automakers in Europe and their competitors in China, rather than to close the European Union market to Chinese imports. But European countries are divided on the issue. France, Italy and Poland support the tariffs, while Germany remains opposed. Spain initially supported them but on a visit to China last month, the country’s prime minister urged Brussels to consider a compromise. To block the tariffs, 15 countries whose populations amount to 65 percent of the European Union’s total inhabitants would need to vote against them. Chinese leaders have spent recent weeks traveling through Europe’s capitals, meeting with leaders from member countries and representatives in Brussels to try to reach an agreement that would prevent the tariffs from taking effect. European leaders said that although they were legally required to vote on the tariffs, they remained open to continuing talks on the issue with China. The additional tariffs stem from an E.U. investigation into government subsidies given to electric vehicles made in China. The European Commission has indicated that it is open to continuing negotiations with China even after the vote, and the tariffs could be dropped, even after they have taken effect, should the two sides reach an agreement. “The conclusions of the investigation is not necessarily the end of consultations on finding a solution,” Martin Lucas, the commission’s director-general in charge of trade defense, told the European Parliament on Monday. The duties, which would come into effect on Oct. 31 and remain for five years, would still be significantly lower than the 100 percent tariffs imposed by the United States, Canada or Turkey. President Emmanuel Macron of France has pushed his country’s backing of the tariffs, insisting on Wednesday that the level of support that the Chinese automakers received from the state were “unbearable” and harmful to the European market. “Broadly, we have to protect the level playing field in all the different sectors of our industry,” he said. Among those countries opposed to the tariffs is Germany, whose automakers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are all heavily invested in China, is concerned that the Chinese will retaliate against the tariffs. “That is why negotiations with China on electric vehicles must continue,” Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said in Berlin on Wednesday. He suggested the European Union look at other areas where Chinese competition was hurting Europeans, such as steel. The automotive sector is crucial to Europe, employing 13.8 million people and accounting for 7 percent of the overall E.U. economic output. But sales have been falling, along with demand, leading manufacturers to consider layoffs and factory closures from Belgium to Germany to Italy. Despite weaker overall demand for electric cars in Europe, China is taking a larger share of the market. Registration among owners of electric vehicles built in China has increased sevenfold in the past three years, according to the European Commission. But some analysts point out that concerns about a tit-for-tat trade conflict with China were overblown, citing China’s growing dependence on Europe. “China really needs the European market, especially with the U.S. market closing down to Chinese products,” said Noah Barkin, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund. “China is going to respond if the E.U. introduces duties, but I doubt whether that response will be an over the top response.”
