China warns EU against EV price talks

China warns EU against separate EV price talks, citing risks to bilateral negotiations and mutual trust concerns.

BEIJING:

China urged the European Union on Saturday not to conduct separate negotiations over the price of China-made electric vehicles sold in the EU, warning that this would "shake the foundations" of bilateral tariff negotiations.

"If the European side, while negotiating with China, conducts separate price commitment negotiations with some companies, it will shake the foundation and mutual trust of the negotiations ... and be detrimental to advancing the overall negotiation process," China's Ministry of Commerce said in comments published on its website.

It didn't cite any evidence for the EU carrying out these separate talks beyond saying there had been "relevant reports." The comments come days after Brussels rejected a Chinese proposal for EVs made in China to be sold within the bloc at a minimum price of 30,000 euros.