Volvo Car AB has started to shift manufacturing of Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) to Belgium as the EU prepares to impose tariffs on China-made EVs, the Times reported.
On top of transferring production of Volvo’s EX30 and EX90 models to Belgium, the automaker might also move assembly of some Volvo models bound for the UK, the report said, citing unidentified people.
Volvo, which is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co (吉利控股集團), is seen as the most exposed among western automakers to the potential tariffs, the Times said.
Photo: Bloomberg
Trade frictions between the EU and China have led to a barrage of anti-dumping probes against Beijing amid allegations of unfair subsidies.
The EU is expected to tell EV makers in China as early as next week whether it would impose provisional tariffs from July 4 that would boost import duties above the current level of 10 percent.
China last week accused the EU of working to “suppress” Chinese companies and has signaled it is ready to unleash retaliatory duties on EU-made vehicles with large engines, a move that would hit Germany’s Mercedes-Benz AG, Porsche AG and BMW AG the most.
Meanwhile, Turkey is to raise tariffs on all vehicle purchases from China by 40 percent, in a bid to curb imports and narrow the current account deficit.
The tariff imposed would be a minimum of US$7,000, according to a presidential decision published in the Official Gazette. The decision would be effective after 30 days.
Turkey raised customs duty on Chinese EVs last year to support the country’s first domestically produced EV.
However, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke out against restricting automotive trade as the EU moves closer to slapping tariffs on EVs imported from China.
Germany’s auto industry is benefiting from business in China and would be able to compete with the Asian country’s automakers if trade remains “fair and free,” Scholz said on Saturday.
“Isolation and illegal customs barriers — that ultimately just makes everything more expensive, and everyone poorer,” Scholz said at an event organized by Stellantis NV’s Opel in Ruesselsheim, Germany. “We do not close our markets to foreign companies, because we do not want that for our companies either.”
Germany’s powerful auto industry has pushed back against tariffs, saying its business with China secures jobs at home.
An escalating trade spat would fuel inflation and delay the transition to a cleaner economy, former Volkswagen AG CEO Herbert Diess said earlier this month.
Scholz said that the industry should continue shifting to battery power to ensure it would remain competitive in the years to come.
“Doubting progress, delaying renewal and transformation — that would have bitter consequences,” he said. “If we do that, others will overtake us.”
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
JET JUICE: The war on Iran’s secondary effects have seen fuel prices skyrocket, knocking flight schedules down to earth in return as airlines struggle with costs Airline passengers should brace for more irritation in the next few months as carriers worldwide cancel flights and ground planes to cope with stratospheric increases in jet-fuel prices. Dutch flag carrier KLM is the latest company to cut its schedule, saying on Thursday that it would scrap 80 return flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the coming month. That puts it in the same league as United Airlines Holdings Inc, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which have all pruned itineraries to mitigate costs. Global capacity for next month has been reduced by about 3 percentage points, with all
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