Brussels last year angered China after launching an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric cars with growing expectations the EU will slap on duties in response. — AFP picBRUSSELS, May 22 — The EU would impose “targeted” duties on Chinese electric cars if Beijing’s state aid for the sector is proven to be illegal, bloc chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.
The United States earlier this month sharply raised tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, but von der Leyen insisted the EU would take a different approach. “No, I don’t think that we are in a trade war,” she said during a debate organised by the Bruegel think tank and the Financial Times. But tensions between Beijing and Brussels are rising as the EU has launched a raft of probes targeting Chinese subsidies for solar panels, wind turbines and trains.