STORY: German executives oppose EU tariffs on Chinese EVs
SHOOTING DATE: June 14, 2024
DATELINE: June 15, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:31
LOCATION: Berlin
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of street views
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (German): HILDEGARD MUELLER, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): WALTER DORING, Chairman of the Academy of German Hidden Champions
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): MICHAEL BORCHMANN, Former head of the European and International Affairs Department of the federal German state of Hesse
5. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): MICHAEL SCHUMANN, Chairman of the Board of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade

STORYLINE:

German executives oppose the European Commission's plan to impose additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), calling for free and fair competition.

The provisional duties envisaged by the Commission on the imports of EVs from China would range from 17.4 percent to 38.1 percent.

SOUNDBITE 1 (German): HILDEGARD MUELLER, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry
"What is always important is competition on equal terms. What is important is that the markets are mutually open and that everyone has the same access. We accept the competition. This also means that we would welcome Chinese companies coming to Germany and producing here. We believe that building up new tariffs and sliding into protectionism is the wrong way to go. Rather, we need to talk to each other so that it is equally possible for companies of both sides to approach each other, produce there and sell there."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): WALTER DORING, Chairman of the Academy of German Hidden Champions
"I think it is a mistake to have the higher tariffs because it will only damage all the chances we normally have and therefore I think it is good that the German Chancellor is against higher tariffs and I hope he will succeed. Never ever before I heard against Germany that there were overcapacities. Therefore we should not do the same mistake to China."

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): MICHAEL BORCHMANN, Former head of the European and International Affairs Department of the federal German state of Hesse
"China's electric vehicles on the Western market, they have about 10 percent. They are not really threatening the Western development. I regard this as one point of the typical propaganda of the United States, which is afraid that perhaps China might become the world's biggest economy. They want to put China down and they find always new ways to unfriendly attack China."

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): MICHAEL SCHUMANN, Chairman of the Board of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade
"As many German automotive corporations believe, in terms of e-mobility, in this specific segment, it's a wrong signal at the wrong time. We need to transition more fast. We need a more variety of models here on the street. The consumer needs better prices. And I think competition and more offers from China could help achieve that more fast."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Berlin.
(XHTV)