欧盟对华关税，写自华盛顿的剧本
2024-07-05 05:43阅读：
用联合国前副秘书长兼环境规划署执行主任埃里克·索尔海姆的话说：“中国如今是一切绿色事物不可或缺的国家……所有历史经验都表明，如果建立封闭市场，把世界不同地区分割开来，我们都会变得更穷。”为了和平、发展和地球宜居，欧洲必须改弦更张。
EU tariffs on China: a script written in
Washington
Brussels is following the US’s lead in slapping punitive duties on
China’s electric vehicles, sabotaging Europe’s climate goals and
economic interests to appease Biden’s anti-Beijing crusade, writes
CARLOS MARTINEZ
LAST week the EU notified Beijing that, following a nine-month
investigation into alleged unfair state subsidies, it will impose
new tariffs of up to 38 per cent on Chinese electric vehicles
(EVs).
Given the existing 10 per cent tariff on car imports, this will
mean Chinese EVs will be hit with tariffs of up to 48 per cent.
These new ta
riffs are due to kick in on July 4.
Germany, Sweden and Hungary have been vocal in opposing the move,
with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stating the obvious: “Isolation
and illegal customs barriers ultimately just makes everything more
expensive, and everyone poorer.”
Of course, this reflects the importance of the Chinese market for
German car manufacturers, who will be hoping beyond hope that the
authorities in Beijing haven’t been studying the Book of Exodus and
thus are not minded to apply the principle of “an eye for an
eye.”
BMW CEO Oliver Zipse commented: “The decision for additional import
duties is the wrong way to go. The EU Commission is thus harming
European companies and European interests.”
This sentiment was echoed by a spokesperson for Volkswagen: “The
negative effects of this decision outweigh any potential benefits
for the European and especially the German automotive
industry.”
Indeed there seems to be little enthusiasm for these tariffs
anywhere outside the White House. The Bloomberg editorial board
argues that “tariffs won’t bring the EU prosperity” and that the
increased price of EVs will decelerate Europe’s green
transition.
Similarly, an article for Chatham House — titled “Imposing tariffs
on Chinese electric vehicles will make the EU’s transition slower
and more expensive” — notes that the EU has a legally binding
target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Meanwhile “decarbonisation technologies like solar panels, wind
turbines and electric vehicles share a characteristic that sets
them apart from other traded goods: when swapped for fossil fuel
alternatives, they reduce the quantity of planet-warming gases
being pumped into the atmosphere.” Such technologies “are needed in
vast quantities, and in very short order, to give any chance of
avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.”
It is noteworthy — and presumably not entirely coincidental — that
the EU’s announcement came just a month after the Biden
administration announced tariffs on Chinese EVs of 100 per
cent.
In the case of the US, the material impact of these tariffs is
virtually non-existent, given that Chinese-made models constitute
just 2 per cent of all EV sales; and this in a market where EVs
only make up 8 per cent of all car registrations (compared with
almost 50 per cent in China).
The US tariff increase is simply an attempt by Biden to appear
“tough on China” in the run-up to the presidential election. Donald
Trump, not to be outdone on such matters, has promised tariffs of
200 per cent. As such, what we’re talking about is yet another
component in the US-led new cold war on China, for which there is
bipartisan consensus.
So it would appear the EU is acting in accordance with the strong
recommendations (instructions) of Washington.
This certainly wouldn’t be the first time Europe has compromised
its climate commitments and economic stability in order to
participate in the US’s pursuit of 21st century hegemony.
In 2022, in order to punish Russia and to generate profits for the
US’s domestic fossil fuel industry, the Biden administration
heavily promoted sanctions on Russian natural gas. The result has
been a major increase in US exports of fracked shale gas to
Europe.
To get this gas from North America to Europe, it has to be
liquified, stored at minus 70°C, and transported by ship. This
whole process is extremely costly in both financial and ecological
terms, certainly much more so than using existing pipelines running
from Russia through Europe.
The European working class and progressive movement should oppose
these tariffs on Chinese EVs and should resist the ongoing attempts
by sections of the bourgeoisie to align Europe with Washington’s
reckless foreign policy.
As noted in these pages in August last year, “major problems facing
humanity require international co-operation — and China’s leading
position in green technology makes co-operation in this field
essential.”
China has raced ahead in renewable energy and electric transport
because it has identified those sectors as being absolutely crucial
for the future of not only China but the world.
As such, it has built environmental considerations into the core of
its planning system and has targeted public investment accordingly.
Rather than complaining about China’s investment in new productive
forces, Europe should be following its example.
Imposing tariffs on the basis of Chinese public investment creates
a precedent that any such central investment in sustainable
development is unacceptable. This precedent would render any sort
of green new deal out of the question.
Even the Economist acknowledges that “the potential gains to the
West from a ready supply of cheap, green vehicles are simply
enormous.” And, momentarily overcoming its Eurocentric instincts,
it admits that Chinese cars “are not only cheap; they are
better-quality, particularly with respect to the smart features in
EVs that are made possible by internet connectivity.”
The article concludes that “if China wants to spend taxpayers’
money subsidising global consumers and speeding up the energy
transition, the best response is to welcome it.”
Inasmuch as there’s such a thing as a sane bourgeois perspective,
this is what it looks like.
In the words of former undersecretary-general of the UN and former
executive director of the UN Environment Programme Erik Solheim:
“China is now the indispensable country for everything green … And
all historical experiences show that if you create closed-down
markets and separate markets from different parts of the world, we
will all be poorer.”
For the sake of peace, development and the habitability of the
planet, Europe must change course.
