欧洲联盟周五做出决定，对中国进口的电动汽车征收更高的关税，旨在保护对欧盟经济至关重要的行业，并可能与一个关键贸易伙伴产生紧张关系。这一举措影响着世界两大经济体之间数十亿美元的交易往来。这同时也展现了欧盟在处理与中国利益冲突问题上的挣扎，一些成员国将中国视为必不可少的合作伙伴，而另一些则视其为具有潜在威胁的竞争者。
新推出的关税比美国和加拿大所施加的100%税额要低得多，但分析人士指出，这反映了欧洲愿意通过对中国采取更为强硬的姿态来与华盛顿建立桥梁，并未完全将中国拒之门外。投票表明“欧盟能够在经济领域对中国的更强反制措施方面达成共识”，德国马歇尔基金会资深研究员诺亚·巴林（Noah Barkin）表示，他专门研究了欧盟与中国的关系。
然而，这一决策凸显了欧洲联盟成员国在如何处理与中国的争议问题上存在的分歧。有五个国家投票反对征收关税，而另有十二个国家选择弃权。
从2023年10月31日起生效的关税将持续五年，最高可达45%。双方欧中官员已表示，正在进行谈判以期找到解决欧盟担忧（即中国汽车制造商在中国政府补贴下的不公平竞争优势）的替代方案，并确保任何协议符合世界贸易组织规则。
“欧洲联盟和中国继续积极探讨替代解决方案”，欧盟委员会在周五的一份声明中说。“任何达成的协议都必须遵循世贸组织设定的规则。”此次决定是基于对去年开始的一项对中国提供电动汽车补贴行为调查的结果，这是更广泛反制中国政府被认为阻碍欧洲企业竞争行为的一部分。
根据中国汽车制造商从北京获得政府补助的程度来确定关税。对中国汽车制造商实施最高税率的对象为补贴披露信息较少的企业；特斯拉（在上海设有大型工厂）因与其调查人员协商获得了最低税率，因为其定价策略与其他公司相比更具竞争力。中国已在针对欧盟商品的补贴进行调查，包括乳制品、威士忌、猪肉及豪华车等，并于周五对投票结果表示批评，同时呼吁欧洲委员会推迟实施关税，以继续双边谈判。
去年，中国和欧盟之间的贸易总额达到7390亿欧元（约8110亿美元），其中中国在欧方的第二重要贸易伙伴地位仅次于美国。中国汽车制造商的低廉定价被认为并非源自补贴，而是通过国内市场的激烈竞争形成的供应链优势。欧洲与中国的会谈将在周一继续进行，并且中国政府警告将采取措施捍卫中国企业利益。
欧盟面临全球经济体份额持续萎缩的问题，并落后于美国和中国。前欧洲中央银行行长马里奥·德拉吉（Mario Draghi）上个月发表的一项报告发现，欧洲需要优先保护其汽车工厂及公司免受提供政府补贴的外国生产商的影响。关税被视为“帮助实现竞争平衡”，并保持欧盟从与中国合作带来的生产力提升中获益的方式。
除了对中国的贸易战担忧外，有12个欧盟国家选择弃权，包括奥地利、瑞典和西班牙等国。
西班牙经济部长卡洛斯·库尔佩（Carlos Cuerpo）致信欧委会贸易专员瓦尔迪斯·多姆布罗夫斯基斯（Valdis Dombrovskis），呼吁继续与中国的谈判。他指出欧盟需要保护汽车工业，同时避免与包括中国在内的主要贸易伙伴升级紧张局势。
尽管有些人认为这些关税将鼓励中国汽车制造商将其生产转移到欧洲，创造就业并为大陆带去技术，但有观点认为过度依赖中国来支撑欧盟工业生产可能最终适得其反。“通过与中国企业的合作进行再工业化可能在罗马或马德里看起来是容易的解决办法”，欧洲理事会亚洲部门负责人蒋加·欧特尔（Janka Oertel）表示，“但这将进一步增强对北京的依赖，并增强其操控欧盟政治进程的能力。”
新闻来源：www.nytimes.com
原文地址：Europe Raises Tariffs on China’s E.V.s, Confronting a Key Trade Partner
新闻日期：2024-10-04
原文摘要：
The European Union voted on Friday to impose higher tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, risking tensions with an important trading partner in an effort to protect an industry crucial to Europe’s economy. The decision affects billions of dollars of trade between two of the world’s biggest economic powers. The move also reveals how the European Union is struggling to reconcile the conflicting interests of its members, some of whom see China as an essential partner while others view it as a dangerous competitor. The tariffs are much lower than the 100 percent duties imposed by the United States and Canada, but analysts said they reflected Europe’s willingness to build bridges with Washington by taking a tougher stance on Beijing, but without shutting out China entirely. The vote sends “a signal that there’s an emerging consensus in Europe that stronger pushback against China on the economic front is needed,” said Noah Barkin, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund who specializes in Europe’s relationship with China. Still, the decision exposed the divisions among E.U. member states over how they should handle the issue with China. Five countries voted to block the tariffs, while 12 abstained. The tariffs, which take effect on Oct. 31 and will last for five years, go as high as 45 percent. But both European and Chinese officials have said they remain in negotiations to reach an agreement that would address Brussels’s concerns about unfair advantages enjoyed by automakers in China. “The E.U. and China continue to work hard to explore an alternative solution,” the European Commission said in a statement on Friday, adding that any deal would have to be within the rules set by the World Trade Organization. The vote stems from an investigation that the commission started last year into government subsidies given to electric vehicles made in China, part of a broader push against what the commission describes as anti-competitive behavior from China that has hurt European businesses. The tariffs were calculated by the level of state support that Chinese automakers received from Beijing. The highest duties are being imposed on manufacturers that disclosed little about their subsidies, while Tesla, which has a large factory in Shanghai, was hit with the lowest because it negotiated with investigators. China, which had lobbied individual countries to reject the tariffs, on Friday criticized the vote and called for the European Commission to postpone the duties while negotiations between the two sides continued. China is the European Union’s second most important trading partner, after the United States. Last year, the two traded goods worth 739 billion euros, or $811 billion. China’s commerce ministry said the move represented “unfair, noncompliant and unreasonable protectionist practices.” And the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said the lower prices of Chinese electric vehicles stemmed not from subsidies, but from a supply chain that had developed through fierce market competition inside the country. Talks will continue between Chinese and E.U. officials on Monday, a ministry spokesman said in the statement. He added a thinly veiled threat of retaliation if the tariffs were enacted, saying that China would “take all measures to firmly safeguard the interests of Chinese companies.” China has already started investigations against subsidies on European goods, including dairy, brandy, pork and luxury cars. European officials have said the tariffs could be paused or even ended should they reach an agreement with the Chinese that addresses their concerns about unfair advantages. The Biden administration has voiced concerns that internet-connected Chinese cars and trucks pose a national security risk because their operating systems could send sensitive information to Beijing, but Europeans are more concerned about protecting their automotive industry. Last year, that industry provided 13.8 million jobs and accounted for 7 percent of the region’s economic output. In Germany, which voted against the tariffs, automakers and the government are concerned that the move could set off a trade war with China. Germany’s three biggest automakers, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, are all heavily invested in China. The decision by Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany to vote “no” reflected the pressure that he faced from the country’s leading autoworkers union, as well as from industry leaders, who warned that increased duties could harm competition at a time when overall demand for cars, including electric vehicles, in Europe was shrinking and production costs in Germany remained stubbornly high. “It is the right signal from the German government, which — with a view to the economy, prosperity and growth — has backed the interests of the European and German automotive industry and its employees on such an important issue,” said Hildegard Müller, the president of the German Automobile Association. Hungary, Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia also voted against the tariffs. The European Union faces a shrinking share of the global economy and is lagging far behind the United States and China. A report published last month by Mario Draghi, a former president of the European Central Bank, found that Europe needed to prioritize protecting its automotive plants and companies from state-subsidized foreign producers. Tariffs would “help level the playing field” while keeping Europe open to benefiting from productivity gains from China, according to the report, which was the result of a yearlong study requested by the European Commission on the causes of Europe’s competitiveness crisis. Twelve E.U. countries abstained from the vote, including Austria, Sweden and Spain, according to a European diplomat. Carlos Cuerpo, Spain’s economy minister, in a letter sent on Thursday to Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s trade commissioner, called on the commission to continue negotiations with China. He wrote that the European Union needed to protect its automotive industry while avoiding an escalation of tensions with major trading partners like China, according to a European official who had seen a copy of the letter. Others argue the tariffs will encourage the Chinese companies to shift their production to Europe, creating jobs and bringing their expertise to the continent. Two Chinese companies, Chery and Leapmotor, have already set up joint ventures with automakers in Europe, and BYD, China’s leading automaker, is building its first factory in Europe. But leaning too heavily on China to help prop up European industrial production could prove counterproductive in the long run, said Janka Oertel, the director of Asia for the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Reindustrializing with the help of Chinese companies may seem like an easy fix to some in Rome or Madrid, but would further enhance dependence on Beijing and ability to strong-arm the European political process,” she said.
