Germany has launched an 11th-hour bid to avert a full-scale trade war between Europe and China, resisting French calls to hit Chinese electric vehicles with punitive duties.
With a decision by the European Commission imminent, both Paris and Berlin have ramped up their lobbying efforts — with conflicting messages on just how tough Ursula von der Leyen’s executive body should get on Beijing.
The EU executive is expected to inform Chinese EV-makers on Wednesday of temporary duties resulting from its probe into unfair state subsidies. EU member countries would then vote this fall to confirm the duties — making it vital for von der Leyen to pitch them at a level that the bloc’s two heavyweights can live with.
The atmospherics around the announcement are fraught: Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron both suffered heavy defeats in Sunday’s European election. The French leader responded by calling a risky general election. Now, von der Leyen needs their support to secure a second term as Commission president.
