AYABONGA CAWE: Higher EU tariffs on Chinese EVs might not serve firms or consumers
That all top European producers have some interface upstream in the competing country is among a range of factors complicating analysis
“Each element in the foreign policy of capitalist democracies,” said the late British economist and Labour Party politician Harold Laski, “touches on the vital nerve centre of some vested interest.” Changes to a tariff schedule may be a “life and death” matter for any one vested interest, for example.
Last week European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen lamented “huge state subsidies” that give Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers a price advantage over their European counterparts. “Europe is open for competition, not a race to the bottom,” she said in response to China’s commerce ministry complaining of “naked protectionism”. ..
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