China has expressed its intention to cooperate with the European Union (EU) to uphold the multilateral trading system while responding to the reciprocal tariff measures imposed by the United States.
According to the Ministry of Commerce of China on the 4th, Deputy Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative for International Trade Negotiations Ling Ji stated at the China-Hungary Economic Union meeting held in Budapest, Hungary, the previous day, that China hopes to maintain the rules-based multilateral trading system together with Europe and oppose protectionism and unilateralism.
Deputy Minister Ling reiterated opposition to the reciprocal tariff measures announced by U.S. President Trump and emphasized that China and Europe should translate substantial cooperation into action to enhance the stability of global trade.
He also expressed hope to resolve trade frictions amicably through dialogue with the EU and requested Hungary to play an active role within the EU to this end.
This statement came as China announced plans to resume negotiations soon regarding the EU's tariff measures on electric vehicles.
Spokesperson He Yadong of the Ministry of Commerce explained that during talks between Maros Sefcovic, EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, who visited China on the 28th of last month, and Wang Tao, Minister of Commerce of China, both sides agreed to resume price negotiations on the EU's anti-subsidy measures on electric vehicles as soon as possible.
Spokesperson He added that the talks also covered the EU's anti-subsidy measures on electric vehicles and China's anti-dumping measures on Brandy, and that the leaders of both sides reaffirmed their stance to resolve economic and trade disputes through dialogue and negotiation.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce of China decided on the 2nd to extend the deadline for the anti-dumping investigation on EU-origin Brandy by four months, from the original date of the 5th of this month to early July.
After the EU raised tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles from the previous 10% to 17.8?45.3% in October last year, China implemented provisional anti-dumping measures on EU-origin Brandy in response.
Since then, both sides have conducted so-called ‘price commitment’ negotiations, where Chinese companies maintain European export prices above a certain level instead of paying tariffs, but no significant progress has been made.
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