Holiday special: Driving toward a trade war with China

EU Confidential

POLITICO

Politics, News Commentary, News

4.4 • 175 Ratings

🗓️ 18 April 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, EU Confidential is on a spring break — but with trade tensions between the U.S. and the rest of the world (China in particular) escalating, we thought it was the perfect moment to revisit a timely episode from our archives. As Trump’s new trade war heats up, with triple-digit tariffs hitting Chinese goods and Beijing retaliating, the global trade landscape is shifting dramatically. These developments have significant implications for Europe, especially as the EU navigates its own challenges with Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and has imposed duties to protect its market. In this episode, we delve into the complexities of the EU's approach to Chinese EVs. Abigaël Vasselier from the Mercator Institute for China Studies joins POLITICO’s Koen Verhelst and Jordyn Dahl to unpack these contradictions, with host Sarah Wheaton guiding the conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Sarah Wheaton here.
0:04.3	EU Confidential is on spring break this week.
0:07.1	So this episode is a rerun from October 24,
0:10.4	but it's one we think is still very relevant
0:12.6	in light of Donald Trump's trade war with China.
0:16.1	The EU is also trying to deal with a flood of cheap Chinese goods,
0:20.3	in particular electric vehicles.
0:23.0	Late last year, the European Commission imposed duties of up to 35.3% on EVs from various Chinese manufacturers.
0:30.9	In this episode, we talked about how the EU's free trade ethos and green ambitions were colliding with Beijing's policy of propping up
0:38.5	the electric car industry. We think it's worth another listen. See you next week.
0:50.0	Buckle up. Today we're talking cars.
0:55.0	As Europe's mighty automotive industry faces a serious crisis.
1:00.0	You've heard that Volkswagen is considering closing one of its factories in Germany.
1:06.0	And here in Brussels, the Audi plant is at risk of shutting down to.
1:11.6	Tens of thousands of jobs are hanging in the balance.
1:14.6	The main challenges come from both sides.
1:17.6	Internally, as the EU pushes for a shift to greener electric vehicles,
1:22.6	phasing out the internal combustion engine, and from the outside. Turns out China's way better than Europe at making cheap electric cars.
1:32.3	And they're starting to flood the market.
1:39.3	It's not that the EU is just sitting on its hands.
1:45.0	Last week, the block decided that it might soon slam Chinese manufacturers with heavy duties.
1:51.0	That's huge, both in economic and geopolitical terms.
	...

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