According to the daily report on May 19 of www.cninfo.com.cn, Agence France Presse reported on May 16 that the head of the world auto giant Stelantis Group said on the same day that, as the United States has done a few days ago, it is a "huge trap" to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles.

Carlos Tavares, CEO of the Group (Tang Weishi in Chinese), said: "When creating bubbles around a market, whether in the U.S. or Europe, the first thing to do is to create large-scale inflation in the bubble."

Stelantis Group includes Peugeot and Citroen in France, Fiat and Alfa Romeo in Italy, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and other automobile brands in the United States.

In an interview with French television, he said: "When inflation is created, it will hurt the purchasing power of the middle class."

According to the report, US President Biden announced on the 14th of this month that the tariff on Chinese electric vehicles would quadruple to 100%.

On the same day, Stelantis Group agreed to set up a joint venture with its Chinese partner Zero Auto to produce electric vehicles, which are planned to be exported to France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain from September.

It is reported that the European Union will investigate China's electric vehicle subsidies in September 2023. In order to avoid potential trade barriers, Zero Run plans to produce cars in Europe. Earlier, Chinese automakers BYD and Chery announced the establishment of factories in Hungary and Spain respectively.

When asked whether the agreement is equivalent to "bringing wolves into the sheepfold", Tavares said that the sales of Zero Run cars in Europe will "bring profits to Stelantis Group, and then it will pay taxes in France and Europe".

He said, "We did not wait for the Chinese manufacturers to be big enough to buy western manufacturers." (Translator/Wu Mei)