China, EU reach agreement to reduce Chinese hybrid vehicle imports
Semafor ·
The EU and China reached a deal Friday to reduce China’s shipments of hybrid vehicles to Europe by half.
The EU and China reached a deal Friday to reduce China’s shipments of hybrid vehicles to Europe by half, forestalling a damaging trade war but doing little to address Brussels’ broader complaints.
The agreement slashes Chinese imports by millions of cars over four years, the EU’s trade commissioner said, calling it “ only a first step .” The deal leaves untouched the vast majority of Brussels’ $1 billion-a-day trade deficit with Beijing.
Chinese brands accounted for one in four European hybrid sales in August, swamping Europe’s legacy automakers. Volkswagen recently announced 100,000 job cuts .
Beijing is playing for time, a Trivium China analyst suggested: “In exchange for reviews, dialogue, and ‘understandings,’ it has conceded little on the structural drivers of the EU’s massive trade deficit .”