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.”
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
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