German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) is calling for import tariffs on Chinese plug-in hybrids comparable to those already imposed on purely electric cars. "In electric mobility, as in battery production, we need a level playing field with China, in other words, fair conditions of competition," Schneider told the Rheinische Post (Saturday editions). That is not currently the case, he said, if only because of the massive undervaluation of the Chinese currency.
"For purely battery-electric cars, countervailing duties already exist; for Chinese plug-in hybrids, they do not," Schneider explained. That, he said, must change. "I am in favour of introducing tariffs on Chinese plug-in vehicles comparable to those on fully electric vehicles," Schneider said. "We are open to the world, but not naive." The aim, he argued, must be to keep expertise in vehicle manufacturing and in the decisive technologies, battery production among them, in Germany, or to build it up anew.
"If we do not manage to build up our own battery value chain here over the next few years, we will also have to consider joint ventures," the SPD politician suggested. Chinese companies, he said, hold "a large lead in know-how" in this field. "In that case they should produce their batteries and components in Europe — not only out of Asia," Schneider demanded.
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