ANCONA The increase in duties on Chinese electric cars decided by the European Commission is inevitable and with inconvenient implications. From 10% they will go to 48%, to compensate for “unfair subsidies that damage European producers”. From 2020 to 2023, the market shares of battery-powered cars produced in the EU went from 68.9% to 59.9% while those of cars from China went from 3.9 to 25%. The measure, effective from 4 July, will however become “definitive if discussions with the Chinese authorities do not lead to an effective solution”. There is therefore still room for maneuver but in the meantime the reaction of the Chinese government is very worrying for operators.
The scenarios
There are fears of retaliation in other sectors, including agri-food. «In reality, the friction between Brussels and Beijing risks involving all the most export-oriented companies and in all sectors – comments Francesca Spigarelli, professor of applied economics and director of the China Center of the University of Macerata. – Precisely those that reacted immediately in the post-pandemic period by turning abroad and to China, a very important and interesting market especially for typical Made in Italy productions, with a high content of design, innovation and creativity”. An analysis corroborated by data from the Marche Chamber of Commerce.
The numbers
Having overcome the boom in the pharmaceutical sector, closely linked to the anti-virals against Covid, produced in Pfizer’s Ascoli plant (from 3.4 billion in the first quarter of 2023 to the current 38 million), the export of mining materials has grown by 1087%, by 259.8% for publishing products, by 205.6% for waste treatment and remediation, by 117.5% for food and beverages. «In some sectors strongly oriented towards exports – recalls the teacher – China is a reference market». However, the negative trend is already underway. For example, textiles, leather and accessories, which represents a quarter of the total export volume of the Marche region, decreased by 24.8%. Sector within which in the first quarter of 2024 footwear suffered a -38.9% (16.7 million against the 27.4 million euros achieved in the same period in 2023). For Federico Vitali, founder of Faam in Monterubbiano and vice-president of Fib Spa of the Seri industrial group which produces batteries with lithium technology in the Caserta area and with lead acid in the Marche and Puglia and in Yixing in China exclusively for the Chinese market, the negative data they are part of internal consumption problems that have been occurring for some time. «China – he observes – is tightening its belt. Consequently, the government is favoring the decrease in the presence of Italian products, in this case from the Marche region, and is leveraging exports, helping to make Chinese products even more competitive in prices. On the balance – he goes into detail – although tariffs are not the ideal solution for resolving trade conflicts, the Commission has arrived at this decision certainly because, faced with clear situations of dumping, all negotiations with the Chinese government have failed”.
The failure
A battle that risks damaging many economies. «I consider the tariff policy a failure. China has long been able to invest, unlike Europe, in research, training and digital transition and is today a leader in technological innovation” concludes Spigarelli. «It is up to us – she insists – to draw lessons: Europe needs a long-term industrial policy to face technological challenges. Otherwise we risk chasing international players and finding ineffective responses to the loss of competitiveness of our companies only in ex post solutions, such as duties.”
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