Paul Hockenos
Reason would dictate that Germany’s tenacious automakers—the leaders in the European market—would vehemently demand an import charge on China’s subsidized and cut-price electric vehicles (EVs). Observers fear sleek and thrifty Chinese clean tech could overtake the European market, which is already on the back foot. Last year, almost a fifth of EVs sold in Europe were made in China, and this year, that share of European sales could climb to a quarter. That should be no surprise, as the Chinese automaker BYD sells its chic little Seagull for about $12,000, while Europe’s lowest-cost EV is the Dacia Spring, with a price tag of $18,500.
In the same way, environmentalists should be expected to oppose any surcharge that makes clean tech, such as EVs, more costly. The European Union’s ambition is to almost triple the number (currently 12 million) of zero-emission cars on European roads by 2030—and the chief obstacle to EV expansion for years has been their prohibitive cost.
But the reality has been the other way around: German carmakers have been the ones demanding that newly announced EU tariffs on Chinese cars be shelved, while environmentalists have warned against doing so. The former are concerned about Chinese retaliation; the latter are worried about undermining key promises of the European Green Deal: namely, economic momentum and high-wage jobs within the EU.
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