Electric vehicle deal with China is not close, top EU trade official says

The European Union and China are not close to finalising a deal that would end their long-running electric vehicle dispute, according to a senior EU official, who called reports suggesting otherwise “confusing”.

“I think there have been some quite confusing reports about the imminent deal on battery electric vehicles,” said Sabine Weyand, the EU’s director general for trade, said in Brussels on Tuesday.

“We have had 50 hours of discussions with our Chinese counterparts. They were constructive, but they have not led to an agreement on price undertakings. And there are structural issues that remain unresolved,” she said.

The commission argues that the subsidies have assisted in China’s enormous growth in the sector and fears that if allowed to continue unfettered, the underpriced imports will harm the sales of Europe’s own EV industry.

The tariffs, which range from 7 per cent for Tesla to a top end of 35.3 per cent for state-owned SAIC, have become a huge bone of contention in the EU-China relationship.