China and EU resume negotiations on EV duties following Trump tariff hikes

China and the Europe Union have restarted negotiations to establish a price floor on Chinese-made electric vehicle imports instead of the up to 45.3% tariffs imposed by the EU since last October, the Chinese Commerce Ministry and the European Commission confirmed last week. During an online meeting with EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic on April 8, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said Beijing is willing to strengthen communication and deepen trade, investment, and industrial cooperation with Brussels. “Both sides jointly upholding a rules-based multilateral trading system and adhering to trade liberalization and facilitation will inject greater stability and certainty into the world economy and global trade,” Wang said in a statement published by the Ministry. The news comes after US President Donald Trump imposed a 104% levy across all Chinese imports on April 9, which were later increased to 145%. China on April 11 retaliated with its own 125% levies on US imports, up from 84% imposed just two days earlier, while Trump then announced over the weekend that he would exempt certain products from the measures. [Reuters, China’s Ministry of Commerce, in Chinese]