Not everyone in Europe is happy about the EU's tariffs on China.

Hello, this is the Marketplace Morning Report and we're live from the BBC World Service.

I'm Leanna Byrne.

So the European Union recently slapped import duties on Chinese

electric vehicles and by doing this it says it's protecting European carmakers from

unfair competition but not everyone agrees and today Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez

is urging the EU to rethink these tariffs. One company with a take on this issue is

Umicor, it's a $ billion dollar materials technology and recycling company based in Belgium

and it produces key materials for EV batteries and its chief executive is Barth sap.

Hello. Hi good morning, Liana.

For now I'm just going to focus on the battery side of your business.

I'm sure that you have a lot of thoughts given the EU has recently brought in tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports.

Has that influenced the market?

As we all know, the battery industry really emerged in Asia

and we were one of the few Western players playing in that field so we really had to go to Asia, Korea, China and learn how to deal and work with the local regulations, the local culture, the force. Now of course with the emergence of electrification,

we also see that Europe of course is really eyeing on that electric vehicle. I'm an economist,

right, from background background so as such you mica but also myself we're in

favor of free trade we also believe really in the principle of course of having a

level playing fields.

Apparently the European Union or Commission actually feels that these tariffs are a

correction mechanism.

If I would say these tariffs will provide a temporary oxygen for some of the companies basically

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