The EU's proposal on punitive tariffs on Chinese electric cars is harmful and dangerous, and Hungary will therefore vote strongly against it, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Geszt on Thursday.
According to a statement from the ministry, EU member states will vote on a proposal to impose punitive duties on Chinese electric car manufacturers on Friday.
"The bureaucrats in Brussels are preparing to kill the future competitiveness of the European economy tomorrow ritually," he said.
He pointed out that although the European Commission argues in favor of the interests of the continent's car manufacturers, the biggest companies in the sector, which also have factories in Hungary, are protesting hand and foot against what they see as a very harmful and dangerous proposal. "But why is this proposal harmful and dangerous and why can it ritually kill European competitiveness? After all, the backbone of the European economy is the automotive industry (...) However, European car companies have very close ties with Chinese car companies," he warned.
He cited Hungary as the best example, where there is a very close and harmonious relationship between the major German car manufacturers and their Chinese suppliers. "A key element in the strategy of many large European car manufacturers is a strategic alliance with Eastern, mainly Chinese, suppliers. A significant number of the large European car manufacturers regard China as a very important market with very strong sales interests. In addition, several European car companies have factories and sites in China," he said.
He therefore stressed that the proposed EU punitive tariffs are contrary to the interests of European car manufacturers, risky and dangerous for them. Moreover, he said, the targeted country is retaliating in all similar cases. - We have already seen a foretaste of this when Chinese authorities announced inspections and restrictions on certain food and agricultural products," he said.
- Western European countries export hundreds of billions of euros to China every year, and it is clear that part of this export performance could be jeopardized if the Chinese retaliate, he added. "So the European Commission's proposal for tariffs on Chinese automotive operators is wrong in every way, harmful in every way, extremely dangerous in every way," he said.
The minister said that Hungary will therefore vote strongly against this proposal. We hope that there will be more member states that will behave rationally and reasonably, that will take into account their own national economic interests and will not give in to mainstream pressure," he said. He explained that the automotive industry in Hungary directly supports 175,000 jobs, and indirectly several times that number, and the sector accounts for about one-third of total Hungarian industrial output, so it is extremely important to preserve the competitiveness of the European automotive industry, including the Hungarian one.
