Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on October 25 held a video call with the European Commission (EC)'s Executive Vice President and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis at the latter's request, during which the two sides agreed to conduct further consultations on the EU's planned additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs). During the video call, the two sides took stock of the progress made during the previous round of talks, reaffirmed their political commitment to resolve differences through dialogue, and determined that price commitments will continue to be used as a solution for the case, according to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). MOFCOM said that the EU side has put forward specific proposals on price commitments and proposed that the technical teams of both sides conduct video consultations over the plan. “China agreed to immediately launch the next phase of consultations and welcomes the EU team to come to China as soon as possible,” the statement said.
The EC also issued a statement about the video call, saying that the two sides took stock of the progress made during eight technical negotiating rounds, as well as significant remaining gaps, and reaffirmed their political commitment to finding a mutually agreeable solution. “The principals agreed that further technical negotiations would take place shortly,” the EC statement said. The EU's additional tariffs are scheduled to come into force on October 31 unless the two sides find a mutually acceptable solution to resolve the dispute.
The upcoming talks also come after the two sides have already been conducting intensive consultations since September 20, during which positive progress was made in some areas, but major differences remain on issues related to the core concern of Chinese and EU industries, Minister Wang said during the video call. “China will unswervingly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, and hopes that the two sides will jointly continue to advance consultations based on the previous phase of consultations, achieve substantive breakthroughs as soon as possible, effectively respond to the expectations of Chinese and EU sectors, safeguard the common interests of Chinese and EU industries and the overall economic and trade cooperation between China and the EU,” Minister Wang said.
Despite lingering major differences, the door for more negotiations should remain open and continuing to conduct more consultations should remain the main path to resolving the dispute, said Zhao Junjie, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). “Both sides should meet each other halfway and refrain from making unreasonable demands, so as to eventually find a mutually acceptable solution. This is the most ideal outcome,” Zhao told the Global Times.
