From Politico.eu, September 11:
Brussels and Berlin are increasingly annoyed by the French demand, which could spur a tariff war with China.
Paris is pressuring European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to announce a new probe against Chinese electric vehicles in her annual State of the Union speech on Wednesday, despite fears across the bloc that Beijing could retaliate.
For months, the French government and its proxies in industry and the European Commission have been pushing the EU executive to launch an anti-dumping investigation against insurgent Chinese e-carmakers. This could open the way for Europe to impose additional levies against Chinese vehicles it reckons are being sold unfairly cheaply to grind down European competitors.
Germany, Europe’s top carmaking nation, opposes any punitive measures given its major brands are heavily exposed to the Chinese market with much to lose from any trade war.
But despite that pushback from Berlin and its industry officials, Paris is not throwing in the towel. Mentioning the probe in the EU chief's closely watched speech on Wednesday could give the push new momentum, France argues....
....MUCH MORE, the go deep.
