Tag: Europe

China and Europe Step Back From Trade War With Limits on Chinese Car Exports

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High-level talks in Beijing between the European Union and China ended on Friday with an unexpected agreement that could pull the two sides back from an imminent trade war. The most notable feature of the agreement involved what both sides described as an understanding on China’s exports of hybrid electric-gasoline cars, which have been among the most contentious points of tension between the two sides. Maros Sefcovic, the trade commissioner of the 27-nation bloc, said that the understanding could lead to China’s halving the number of hybrid gasoline-electric cars that…

China agrees to ‘halve’ hybrid car exports to EU in landmark deal

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The EU said it has reached a landmark deal with China to “halve” its sales of hybrid cars in the bloc amid fears surging sales could kill off parts of the European car industry. Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said the deal was the first of its kind and the result of “intense” negotiations with China since June to curb a trade deficit of €1.18bn (£1bn) a day, which has caused mounting tensions between the two economic powers. The deal “opens the prospect of cutting China’s export [of hybrids] by more…

EU ‘pulling out all stops’ with minerals projects as it tries to avert China trade war

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The EU is “pulling out all the stops” to fend off an imminent potential trade crisis with China, the industry commissioner, Stéphane Séjourné, has said, as the bloc announced its backing for a string of critical materials projects. Séjourné said on Friday that the EU would support 46 new strategic projects to accelerate supplies of critical raw materials by 2030 across the bloc. “We could face a crisis in the coming months,” he said. “We may face trade tensions that could also trigger a crisis in a number of sectors.…

China’s ‘Self-Reliance’ Drive Is Upending Trade With Europe

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To understand Europe’s growing alarm over its trade deficit with China, consider a striking statistic: China now sends six containers of goods to Europe for every one it gets back. That ratio has more than doubled in China’s favor over the last five years as Beijing’s drive for greater economic self-reliance has expanded the range of goods China produces at home instead of buying from abroad. Jens Eskelund, president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, cited those figures last month and provided a simple explanation for why. “China…

EU negotiators head to China hoping to curb cheap imports of hybrid electric cars

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Mood in trade talks said to have changed as EU member states harden demands for protection against Chinese imports EU trade negotiators are heading to China for two days of crunch talks aimed at sealing a breakthrough deal tackling Beijing’s record £1bn-a-day trade surplus by curbing its exports of cheap hybrid electric cars into Europe. Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and his team fly out on Wednesday and will be negotiating up to the wire in talks scheduled to start the following day and continue late into Friday. Continue reading… The…

UK considering tariffs on Chinese car imports to align with EU

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The UK is considering whether to impose tariffs on Chinese car imports to align itself with the EU and strengthen its case to be included in new legislation designed to protect the European manufacturing sectors including autos and chemicals. It is understood the EU has raised the question of tariffs with the UK as part of the discussions on the upcoming “Made in Europe” legislation, known as the Industrial Accelerator Act. The UK is an outlier in choosing not to put import taxes on Chinese vehicles, even as the US…

UK car industry faces ‘difficult trade-off’ between Chinese and EU markets

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Britain’s car industry is grappling with a “difficult trade-off” between China and Europe, as manufacturers struggle to balance the benefits of both markets ahead of looming trade measures that could restrict UK exports to the EU. The UK is an outlier in choosing not to put import taxes on Chinese vehicles, even as the US has shut them out almost entirely, and the EU imposes duties of up to 45%. EU officials reportedly warned Andy Burnham last month that the UK must put tariffs on cheap Chinese vehicles otherwise Brussels…

A Way Out of the A.I. Arms Race?

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Over the course of two harrowing weeks in October 1962, the world came within an eyelash of nuclear Armageddon. The United States and the Soviet Union were jockeying desperately for advantage during the Cold War arms race. After the United States stationed intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey, the Soviets, fearing a first strike, sought to station their own nuclear weapons in Cuba. The tense two-week standoff that ensued, the Cuban Missile Crisis, nearly escalated into nuclear war. But it didn’t. Not only did the parties step back from…

Inside the Ukrainian military unit training fighters from China

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On the makeshift workbench in the cramped front room of a cottage near the frontlines of the Russia-Ukraine war, there are all the accoutrements of a drone workshop. The walls are lined with pliers and rolls of duct tape; the table is cluttered with screwdrivers and piles of wire. Propped up against the wall are two kamikaze drones. Only one item looks out of place in this Ukrainian village house: a pot of Chinese longjing tea, the leaves wilted from repeated top-ups. Good tea is one of the many things…

France says EU’s ‘Made in Europe’ law should not include the UK

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France is leading a push to exclude the UK from the EU’s “Made in Europe” policy that could result in British companies losing out in the race to supply European countries with low-carbon technologies and electric cars. The plans were raised by Andy Burnham when he met the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on the sidelines of the UN general assembly earlier this week. The policy, still under negotiation, aims to protect European companies from intense and “unfair” state-subsidised competition from China. But the government fears British companies…