EU imposes temporary limits on Chinese hybrid car imports
Brussels stops short of tariff-style measures as it weighs a market-access tool aimed at Chinese EV makers.
Published
The European Union has set temporary limits on imports of Chinese hybrid vehicles, a step short of the tariff-style measures it has threatened in the past.
The limits follow a push from Berlin and Paris for a trade tool meant to curb Chinese carmakers' access to the EU market. China has already warned it would retaliate against EU trade measures, and its commerce ministry has separately urged France and Germany not to pursue protectionist steps.
The move is not isolated. In Britain, business minister Jonathan Reynolds is drawing up a separate tariff package targeting Chinese electric cars over concerns about state subsidies, according to the Times.
For Brussels, the quotas offer a middle path that avoids the harsher Section 301-style tools it has previously considered. But they still carry risk: China has signalled it will respond to EU trade action, and any retaliation could hit European exporters already under pressure in the auto sector, at a time when the eurozone has little room to absorb a deeper trade confrontation.