SCMP-China Will Not 'Yield An Inch' In EV Tariff Talks

(MNI) London - SCMP reports on the latest vis-a-vis EU tariffs on Chinese-made EVs ahead of 19 Sep talks between Minister for Commerce Wang Wentao and European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis. SCMP quotes Yuyuan Tantian, an account affiliated to China Central Television (CCTV), in a WeChat post that claimed “While China is always willing to seek consensus and resolve issues through communication in the face of friction, this does not mean that China will make concessions to ease the growing pressure from various trade disputes. Regardless of whether negotiations move China will not make any concessions on its core interests.”

• On 12 Sep, the European Commission said it had rejected offers from Chinese EV makers regarding minimum import prices to avoid tariffs. This was met with a rebuke from the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU claiming that "This lack of sincerity in negotiations is signalling an alarming escalation in trade tensions and risks provoking a trade war."
• Finbarr Bermingham at SCMP: "From what I hear, the Chinese proposals landed on the very last day of the consultation period. They could have been submitted any point from July and there would have been ample time for negotiation. But as they landed at the very end of the legal period, were not seen to address the root problem, and commission felt they were not WTO-solid, they were rejected.
  Either a high-wire negotiating gambit, or meant to stir upmember states who want Commission to accept a deal".