Hungary to Vote against EU Punitive Tariffs on Chinese Cars

The EU’s proposal on punitive tariffs on Chinese electric cars is harmful and dangerous, and Hungary will therefore vote strongly against it, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced.

According to a ministry statement, the minister said that EU Member States will vote on Friday on the proposal to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese electric car manufacturers. “The Brussels bureaucrats are preparing to ritually kill the future competitiveness of the European economy tomorrow,” he noted.

“But why is this proposal by the Brussels bureaucrats so damaging and dangerous and why can it ritually kill European competitiveness?

After all, the backbone of the European economy is the automotive industry. (…) However, European car companies have a very close cooperation with Chinese car companies,”

he warned.

He cited Hungary as the best example, where there is a “close and harmonious relationship” between the big German car manufacturers and their Chinese suppliers. “A key element in the strategy of many large European car companies is a strategic alliance with Eastern, mainly Chinese, suppliers. In fact, a significant number of the large European car companies see China as a very important market with very strong sales interests. In addition, many European car companies have factories and sites in China,” he said.

Péter Szijjártó therefore underlined that the planned EU punitive tariffs are against the interests of European car manufacturers. “The proposal of the Brussels bureaucrats is extremely risky and extremely dangerous for the entire European economy,” he stressed.

He said that the targeted country would retaliate in all similar cases.

We have already seen a foretaste of this, with the Chinese authorities announcing inspections and restrictions on certain food and agricultural products,”

the politician warned. “Western European countries export hundreds of billions of euros to China every year, and it is clear that some of this export performance could be at risk if the Chinese retaliate,” he added.

The minister underlined that Hungary would therefore vote strongly against this proposal. He also noted that

he had held talks this week with the heads of Germany’s biggest car companies, who were also unanimous in their opposition.

“We hope that there will be more Member States that will behave rationally and reasonably, that will take into account their own national economic interests and not give in to some mainstream pressure,” he concluded.

Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Balogh Zoltán