Paris, France - Recent

Ongoing trade tensions between Europe and China over Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) are raising concerns about the potential damage this could to valuable China-EU trade ties in other sectors.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, decided in early July that provisional tariffs of up to 37.6 percent would be slapped on Chinese-made EVs.

On August 20, the commission published a draft plan to make those tariffs definitive, at slightly revised rates, subject to approval by European Union member states.

According to the disclosed information, the anti-subsidy tax rates for the three sampled Chinese EV companies, BYD, Geely, and SAIC, are 17.0 percent, 19.3 percent, and 36.3 percent, respectively.

Some European countries like Germany and Spain have criticized the measures, fearing a possible trade war with China.

Some residents in Paris, capital city of France, also shared their views on the EV dispute with a China Global Television Network (CGTN) reporter.

There have been warnings from some French exporters that the tariffs against China in auto sector could end up having a negative impact on another industry - cognac.

China launched its own investigation earlier this year into European wine-based liquors.

French brands constitute 99 percent of China's cognac imports raising concerns among some French cognac producers.

Shotlist:
Paris, France - Recent:
FILE: Paris, France - Date Unknown
1. Arc de Triomphe, traffic;
FILE: Brussels, Belgium - June 27, 2024
2. Various of European Union (EU) flags;
FILE: Shanghai, China - 2024
3. Various of auto production line;
Paris, France - Recent
4. SOUNDBITE (French, dubbed in English) resident (name not given) (starting with shot 3):
"I'm not too interested in electric cars. I hear from people who say that when they drive electric cars, they lose a lot of range very quickly. Also, it's not easy to recharge cars on freeways either.";
FILE: China - Exact Location and Date Unknown
5. Various of car assembly line, workers working;
Paris, France - Recent
6. SOUNDBITE (French, dubbed in English) resident (name not given) (ending with shot 7):
"If China is ever taxed on electric vehicles in the European market, they could do the same thing and take market share away from us on some of the European and especially French products. France has a strong international presence in the spirits and luxury goods sector. So there's a risk.";
FILE: China - Exact Location and Date Unknown
7. Various of car assembly line, workers working;
Paris, France - Recent
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Clara Punch, manager, Drinking Better Company (starting with shot 7):
"First of all, I believe that they will try to sell more in the European market, and in France particularly. I believe that a lot of big houses of cognac will still stand in the market, however, the small houses will just die because they will not be able to sell their product any more.";
FILE: China - Exact Location and Date Unknown
9. Various of electric vehicles (EVs) on display at exhibition.

[Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]