The German Handelsblatt reports on initial negotiations between the EU and China on abolishing EU tariffs on Chinese electric cars.
The talks are said to have been held at the highest political level. According to the newspaper, Chinese electric car companies will invest in Europe and tariffs will be replaced by a price floor for the Chinese cars. All according to unnamed sources.
The newspaper reports that talks on the issue were held when the EU's Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic was in China at the end of March, and then met, among others, China's Trade Minister Wang Wentao.
Furthermore, China, according to the news agency AP, says that Prime Minister Li Qiang's talks with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier in the week "sent a positive message to the rest of the world".
This week, Sefcovic and Wang Wentao have also held further talks on retaliatory tariffs.
"China is willing to work with the EU to jointly implement the points that the leaders agreed on to strengthen communication and exchanges, and deepen trade, investment, and industrial cooperation between China and the EU", writes the state news agency New China.
The Chinese words directed at the USA are not as mild.
"We must solemnly tell the USA that a tariff-wielding barbarian who tries to force other countries to call them and beg for mercy can never expect a call from China", writes Huang Jingrui, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a debate article in the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, according to AP.
