China and EU set for talks on planned EV tariffs

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -- China and the European Union have agreed to start talks on the planned imposition of tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles being imported into the European market, senior officials of both sides said on Saturday.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said he had been informed by EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis that there would be concrete negotiations on tariffs with China.

The confirmation came after China's Commerce Ministry said its head Wang Wentao, and Dombrovskis, executive vice president of the European Commission, had agreed to start consultations over the EU's anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs.

"This is new and surprising in that it has not been possible to enter into a concrete negotiation timetable in the last few weeks," Habeck said in Shanghai.

He said it was a first step and many more will be necessary. "We are far from the end, but at least, it is a first step that was not possible before."

The minister had said earlier on Saturday that the European Union's door was open for discussions regarding EU tariffs on Chinese exports.

"What I suggested to my Chinese partners today is that the doors are open for discussions and I hope that this message was heard," he said in his first statement in Shanghai, after meetings with Chinese officials in Beijing.

Habeck's visit is the first by a senior European official since Brussels proposed hefty duties on imports of Chinese-made EVs to combat what the EU considers excessive subsidies.

Habeck said there is time for a dialogue between the EU and China on tariff issues before the duties come into full effect in November and that he believes in open markets but that markets require a level playing field.

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