German Economy Minister Robert Habeck arrived for a three-day visit to China as the mood in Beijing sours over proposed EU tariffs. The vice chancellor took pains to explain his opposition to them.
German Economy Minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck landed in Beijing for a three-day visit Friday amid tensions over recent talk of imposing high import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) sold into the European Union (EU).
Habeck is the first high-level European minister to visit China since the EU announced its tariff proposal. Brussels argues that Beijing’s largesse with government subsidies gives Chinese carmakers an unfair advantage over European manufacturers.
China has railed against the proposal, threatening a trade war as its automakers urge leadership in Beijing to level import taxes on European internal combustion vehicles.
“The European side continues to escalate trade frictions and could trigger a ‘trade war.’ The responsibility lies entirely with the European side,” according a statement attributed to the Chinese Commerce Ministry.
Both the Chinese and Germany see the trip as an opportunity for Habeck — as a spokesman for Europe’s largest economy and one with deep ties to Chinese industry — to dampen blowback over the issue of tariffs, which German carmakers opposed for fear of retaliation. China accounted for nearly one-third of all German car sales last year.
