Europe set for Chinese retaliation over Electronic vehicle tax

[Nairaland]

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The European Union is bracing for retaliation from China after the bloc voted last week to impose tariffs on the import of Chinese electric vehicles, or EVs, amid speculation that Beijing could seek to target individual European countries that voted for the measures.

The EU is divided on the issue, with 10 member states in favor in Friday?s vote, five countries voting against the measures and 12 abstaining.

After the vote, China's Commerce Ministry said it opposed the planned tariffs, calling them "unfair, non-compliant and unreasonable."


France is among the countries that pushed for the EU to adopt the tariffs. Makers of French cognac, a type of brandy, fear that Beijing will now seek to target their product, after China launched an anti-dumping probe earlier this year.

That investigation concluded in August that dumping had occurred on the Chinese market, but Beijing chose not to impose any tariffs at that stage, a decision widely seen as an attempt to defuse tensions with Europe.