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local time six month twelve The European Commission disclosed the import of battery electric vehicles from China（ BEV ）The temporary tariff level imposed.

The tariffs imposed by the European Commission on three sampled Chinese automobile manufacturers are respectively BYD 17.4% ； auspicious 20% ； SAIC Group 38.1% ； Other battery electric vehicle manufacturers participating in the survey but not sampled in China will be levied 21% Weighted average tax of, including Aichi, JAC, BMW, Chery, FAW, Chang'an, Dongfeng, Great Wall, Zero Race, Weilai, Tesla and Xiaopeng.

The above is only the additional part, and the normal tariff rate of EU passenger cars is 10% That is to say, SAIC Group is facing an increase in the final tariff rate 48.1% Other enterprises' tariff rates are 27.4% to 31% between. The European Commission said that if the discussions with China failed to reach an effective solution, these temporary tariffs would seven month four Introduced from today.

In response, the spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce said that the determination in the disclosure of the European ruling lacked factual and legal basis, and artificially constructed and exaggerated the so-called "Subsidy" projects, abusing the rule of "available facts" and cutting out abnormally high subsidies, not only damage the legitimate rights and interests of China's electric vehicle industry, but also disrupt and distort the supply chain of the global automotive industry chain, including the European Union.

The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Mechanical and Electrical Products pointed out that the European Commission's investigation was seriously lacking in impartiality, objectivity and transparency. For example, Chinese exporters were not sampled in accordance with the rules and past practice of the principle of maximum export volume, which led to the failure to sample the enterprises that exported the most electric vehicles to the EU. There are also problems such as the information required is very broad and harsh, the European Commission's investigation of the so-called threat of damage to EU industries is neither objective nor transparent.

With the three weeks of negotiation window remaining, how many opportunities will there be? What is the deep motivation for the EU to impose tariffs on China's electric vehicles? How should Chinese auto companies respond?

Some people in Europe oppose the imposition of tariffs

The EU launched a countervailing investigation on China's electric vehicles from two thousand and twenty-three year nine The month begins. "The European Commission is launching a countervailing investigation on electric vehicles from China." two thousand and twenty-three year nine month thirteen On October 1, President of the European Commission Von Delain announced at the annual Union State of the Union address of the European Parliament.

It can be seen from the statement that the bottom line and logic of the EU's anti subsidy investigation is that they have collected a large amount of data and evidence from open sources and specialized databases, proving that China has a large range of actionable subsidies, and that China's overcapacity and rapidly growing imports of electric vehicles for electric pools pose a threat of harm to the EU industry.

The survey is expected to total up to thirteen During the investigation, the European Commission will conduct subsidy determination, specific determination, damage determination, causality determination and EU interest test. The EU will nine Take temporary measures within months, and thirteen The final measures shall be decided within months.

This is related to the nature of the countervailing investigation. The object of the countervailing investigation is the government. It mainly depends on the industrial policies and financial subsidies of the countries under investigation. The EU's countervailing procedures are relatively tight, easy to take temporary measures, and the time limit of the final investigation is relatively fast.

local time six month twelve The European Commission disclosed the import of battery electric vehicles from China（ BEV ）The temporary tariff level imposed. Among them, enterprises named include BYD, Geely and SAIC Group, which are levied separately 17.4% 、 20% and 38.1% Tariff.

The tariffs imposed by the EU on Chinese electric vehicles are divided into three levels: the tax rate imposed on sample companies, the average tax rate for companies that have not been fully investigated but have accepted the inquiry, and the tax rate for companies that have not been investigated. The sampling company can provide feedback on the accuracy of tax rate calculation after receiving the notice of temporary tariff.

After the countervailing investigation is filed, the interested parties can defend their own interests by various means, including requesting hearings. The European Commission said that if the discussions with China failed to reach an effective solution, these temporary tariffs would seven month four Introduced from today.

At the same time, the EU will also hold consultations with member states and manufacturers to decide to eleven Whether the temporary tariff will become permanent tariff at the end of the monthly countervailing investigation. The proposal of permanent tariff shall be voted by EU member states. Once passed, the implementation period of tariffs is five years.

To eliminate additional tariffs, the EU twenty-seven Need to have fifteen Members voted against, and they represent at least 65% 。 However, if the affirmative votes are not supported by a specific majority, the tariff measures can still be implemented as long as the negative votes do not meet the requirements.

Head of European Automotive Industry Research, UBS Patrick Hummel It is believed that if the EU imposes a tax on most pure trams made in China 27% ～ 31% The total tariff of becomes final and is expected to have two consequences. First, the group of Chinese vehicle manufacturers entering the EU will become more concentrated (that is, the expansion plan of small enterprises may be frustrated), but China's industry leaders may continue to promote; Second, Chinese industry leaders may speed up the localization assembly in the EU, which is even welcomed by Hungary, Italy, Spain and other EU member states.

The reason is that for Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers, the profit rate of the global market is often higher than that of the domestic market, that is, there is still some room for price reduction to partially offset the impact of tariffs. according to Q-Series It can be seen from the disassembly report of BYD Seals that even after the assembly of cars in Eastern Europe, China's leading enterprises will still have more cars than the European Union's traditional car manufacturers 25% Cost advantage.

President of German Automobile Industry Association Hildegard ·Muller（ Hildegard Müller ）It is believed that this measure has increased the risk of global trade conflicts. The so-called countervailing measures such as additional tariffs cannot solve the challenges faced by the European and German automobile industries, but will have a rapid negative impact.

As a member of the European Union, Norwegian Finance Minister Veddum said that Norway would not join the EU in raising tariffs on China's electric vehicles.

Since the news was sent out, Volkswagen Group, BMW and Mercedes Benz were the first to express their opposition to this move by the EU.

"In the long run, the imposition of countervailing duties is not conducive to the improvement of the competitiveness of the European automobile industry. We oppose this decision. Germany and Europe currently have weak demand for electric vehicles." Volkswagen Group believes that the European Commission's decision to make this decision will do more harm than good to Europe, especially the German automobile industry.

According to the analysis of Kiel World Economic Research Institute, after the imposition of tariffs, with the reduction of electric vehicles imported from China, the gap left will be filled by vehicles produced in the EU, but this also means that European consumers will bear higher prices.

Patrick Hummel Further analysis shows that the EU's imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles has very limited benefits for some EU mass market vehicle enterprises. The reason is very simple. Due to the low profit margin, the volume oriented electric vehicle sector will still face fierce competition. For high-end vehicle manufacturers, it has no impact in Europe.

Why do Europe and the United States strive to raise the trade barrier of electric vehicles to China?

In the opinion of Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD Co., Ltd., foreign anxiety about the development of new energy vehicles in China just shows that Chinese enterprises are doing well, including not only scale, industrial chain, quality but also cost.

Xue Xu, a chair professor of the School of Economics of Peking University, also said that China's direct financial subsidies had been eliminated before the epidemic, and that China could form a comparative competitive advantage in new energy, which was rooted in the super innovation ability and diligence of Chinese people, and that China has an unusually extensive and meticulous industrial system, This not only makes our product costs and product advantages more prominent, but also makes the price of new energy low.

In addition, he said that the improvement of China's consumption level in recent years has provided further impetus for the development of China's new energy, especially in the field of automatic driving. Therefore, China's advantages of new energy vehicles do not rely entirely on government subsidies, as some EU politicians and economists pointed out.

"I reviewed the EU's anti subsidy report. Frankly speaking, there is no basis for direct financial subsidies. They are in the concept of" pan subsidy ". For example, they believe that some companies have the post of party secretary, and regard the loans from these banks to enterprises as a subsidy, which is inappropriate." Xue Xu believes that the EU's deep roots in anti subsidy to China, It is a trade protection policy adopted by Europe and the United States for relatively leading employment and high added value in specific industries, which we firmly oppose.

five month fourteen Japan, the US imposes additional taxes on China“ three hundred and one Tariff ", which changes the tariff of the United States on China's electric vehicles from 25% Improve to 100% 。 "When we call it a 'closed tariff', it does not mean that we will levy taxes on you. It directly means that you cannot come. This has been a very objective policy," Xue Xu said.

In his view, the United States and the European Union have already reached a certain consensus, because the sales of Chinese new energy vehicles in the United States are not large. The United States first put forward such an unimaginable tariff, which to some extent also provides an opportunity for the EU to levy tariffs on China "Covering" and setting the price very high, and the EU is a little lower than it, seems to be a "tolerance" for China, but in essence, it is to curb the momentum of China's rapid development and rapid growth of cars.

On the whole, the root cause of the current automobile trade friction in the United States is that under the background of the weak dollar, in order to strengthen the competitive position of the dollar, it needs to expand the production in the United States and improve the high value-added employment opportunities in the United States. The EU's repeated emphasis on the risk elimination strategy for China also shows that they believe that the amount and scale of new energy vehicles imported from China are too large, which may affect its supply side security.

The inner volume should not be extended, and Chinese auto enterprises need to develop together

Just as Chinese consumers will distinguish between German, Japanese, French and Korean cars, Chinese brands will also be posted locally in overseas markets "China" label, and gradually formed the evaluation and recognition of its products. This is why at the China Auto Chongqing Forum held last week, when talking about the topic of going to sea, all the auto companies agreed that "only when you go steady can you go far".

Even though Chinese auto companies face many pressures and challenges in going overseas, Zhou Jiang, Vice President of Nezha Auto and President of Overseas Business Unit, still believes that it is the right time for Chinese auto companies to go overseas. This is a once-in-a-century major change in the auto industry, and Chinese auto companies should seize this opportunity.

In recent years, many overseas countries, including the European Union and Turkey, have established high trade barriers to Chinese automobile brands. Zhou Jiang even encountered greater obstacles in opening up the Turkish market. "The local government requires that China's pure electric vehicles must be built in the past twenty We completed the service outlets according to the regulations, but they still refused to approve them, so as not to let you in. " Zhou Jiang believes that this is only one aspect of the challenge, on the other hand, it comes from the competition of domestic brands overseas.

Like many overseas car companies, Zhou Jiang also called for not to expand the domestic market.

"We can roll services, but we must not roll prices. We go to overseas markets to bring Chinese auto brands out of China, use products to bring out of China, and market in China. But once the prices are rolled, there is no profit to do technology, and no profit to do services, which will certainly hinder the long-term development of Chinese auto brands overseas."

Because these cars entered the overseas market without quality assurance and service, let alone local differentiated transformation, which will only make local consumers' perception of Chinese auto brands become low-end, lacking the image of service and guarantee. He believes that from a long-term perspective, we should build up brands, local production, services and channels in a down-to-earth manner, Can lay the foundation for long-term development of enterprises overseas.

"Good people are really good. In terms of going to sea, it must be that the leading enterprises can earn money in the local market, and the corresponding other enterprises will have opportunities." Deng Xiaodan, deputy general manager of Ruilan Auto and general manager of the Overseas Business Department, said that we can learn more from Japan in this regard, especially the role of their industry associations, which effectively avoided malicious price competition.

Shu Xueming, assistant general manager of Chery International, also feels the same way.

"After so many years of overseas efforts, the core of the future challenges of Chinese brands is the understanding of users, followed by brand building." Shu Xueming further added that brand building is a long-term project, which needs precipitation, cultivation and accumulation.

He judged that in the next five to ten years, oil tankers will still occupy the overseas market 60% reach 70% above. One of the most important reasons why Japanese brands such as Toyota and Honda can win overseas markets is that they have done a very good job in model differentiation, which is worth learning from for Chinese traditional car companies.

In addition, Xue Xu also proposed that Chinese cars should implement "Blue Ocean" strategy. Among them, aiming at the green blue ocean, building a low-carbon economic development model, forming and maintaining the state and level of carbon emissions of the earth, and building a green earth is the greatest common denominator for human development; The blue ocean of development ideas, standing in the height of serving the common destiny of mankind, makes the products good enough and further reflects the price advantage, so that even if we face trade barriers and trade protection policies, we can achieve development.

Source: Phoenix Technology