Tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles are due to kick in next week in the EU – yet there are still “significant remaining gaps” between China and the trading bloc on the charges even after eight rounds of negotiations. The EU held the key vote earlier this month to raise the levies to as high as 45% on imported EVs after an investigation into subsidies that Beijing puts into its industry. The bloc aims to help European carmakers struggling to compete with a flood of cheap Chinese models into the market. While the trade spat continues, China is putting pressure on its carmakers to put EU growth plans on hold. One state-owned producer, Dongfeng Motor, has already stopped potential plans to make cars in Italy in response. A potential solution could lie with so-called price undertakings, a mechanism that controls price and volume in the place of tariffs. EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao spoke on a video call today and agreed to continue technical talks.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has displaced over a fifth of Lebanon’s population and cost the country $20 billion, according to the economy minister. The estimate, already more than Lebanon’s GDP last year, could “really triple or quadruple” if infrastructure like airports and major roads are hit, Amin Salam told us in Washington. Lebanon’s economy has been in crisis for years, defaulting on tens of billions of dollars of international bonds and inflation running at nearly 35%. Rising social unrest could destabilize the region, and recovery would take at least three to five years if there were a cease-fire now, Salam said.