The heads of state of the member countries have tasked the European Commission with extending the agreement on Chinese hybrid cars to machinery and chemicals. Pharmaceuticals were discussed, but without confirmation.
The heads of state of the European Union have mandated the European Commission to continue negotiations with China and extend the agreement reached to limit imports of Chinese hybrid cars to three new sectors. This is reported by Expansión, according to information from diplomatic sources.
The selected sectors are machinery and chemicals. Pharmaceuticals were also debated at the request of Germany, but it is not confirmed that they will ultimately be included in the Commission's mandate, as the conclusions of the summit do not explicitly mention them. The institution, led by Ursula von der Leyen, will seek to establish quotas on these products.
The negotiations will be led by the European Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefčovič, and the Chinese Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao. Contacts will resume in January, with a new visit scheduled for around March, at which point a new agreement could be reached.
The aim of Brussels is to rebalance trade relations with China. The trade deficit with the EU is growing at a rate of 1 billion euros per day, and no member state has a positive trade balance with the Asian country individually.
The agreement on hybrid cars allows for a maximum of 350,000 Chinese vehicles to enter the European single market next year. Once this figure is reached, customs will halt new shipments. The limit will increase by 6% each year for four years. Community sources anticipate that the Chinese quota in this segment will drop from the current 12% to around 6%, and that the measure will also apply to European companies manufacturing cars in China, but not to Chinese plants located on community soil, such as those in Spain. The Commission expects that the safeguards will come into effect on December 1.
On the other hand, France and Germany have proposed mechanisms to expel Chinese products from the common market if the talks do not yield results within a reasonable timeframe. According to community sources, von der Leyen included this measure in her presentation to the leaders, and diplomatic sources indicate that it was well received by numerous member states.
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