Importers warn of punitive tariffs

Importers warn of punitive tariffs

The US government has announced an increase in tariffs on electric vehicles from China to 100 percent, as well as an increase in import taxes on cars manufactured in Europe. “We observe such trends with concern,” explains the spokesman for the Austrian automobile importers, Günther Kerle. “Import restrictions, which de facto include tariffs of this level, must not be a preventive measure before all other options have been considered, let alone exhausted.” “Measures like the ones now being discussed would inevitably affect all markets, even a relatively small one like the Austrian one,” continued Kerle. The initial situation in Austria, as well as throughout Europe, is different than in the USA. A large proportion of the electric cars imported to Europe from China are produced there by European manufacturers. “We would be taxing ourselves and further jeopardizing the mobility transition through the resulting price increases,” explains Kerle regarding additional punitive tariffs for Chinese cars currently being considered by the EU Commission, which could receive a new boost from the American initiative. A 10 percent duty is currently charged for imported cars from China.

According to the spokesman for the automobile importers, the European automobile industry has vital interests in the Chinese market, where significant numbers of cars of all types of drive are sold. Just like in the USA itself, as many manufacturers from the EU operate their own factories there and produce models for the global market. A unilaterally announced taxation would inevitably provoke countermeasures, starting a spiral that helps no one," warns Kerle. He cites the EU's free trade agreement with Japan, which has been in force since 2019, as a positive alternative, which has brought advantages to both sides, for example by opening up new opportunities for the supplier industry. Such partnerships should therefore also be sought in order to work with another major player in the automotive industry such as China. "An appropriate share of the value chains of foreign manufacturers in the Installing it domestically – as China itself did – is the right and fair way for everyone involved,” concludes Kerle.