According to the Observer, sources revealed that Germany Foreign Minister Baerbock is scheduled to visit China this month, and his last visit to China was a year and a half ago. The source said that the two sides will discuss many issues, and both China and Germany need this opportunity to exchange views with each other. At present, the Ukraine crisis, the situation in the Middle East, and the tariff dispute between China and the EU are occurring at the same time, which has an impact on Sino-German relations. Germany Foreign Minister Baerbock, who is a Green Party member and has long promoted confrontation with China, visited China to provide a platform for China and Germany to discuss relevant issues in detail. From this point of view, Baerbock's visit was positive.
Baerbock's visit has a number of issues, and it is necessary to seek to understand China's attitude. In the situation in Ukraine, the Ukrainian army has been defeated in many battlefields, and NATO military support is difficult to curb Ukraine's battlefield decline. China is the main peacemaker, and the meeting between the Chinese and German foreign ministers is conducive to the German side's assessment of the situation. In the Middle East situation, the Israel caused the explosion of a pager to cause deaths and injuries to Lebanon people, and after Lebanon the bombing of many places, the Israeli army's ground offensive was blocked. Iran fired more than 200 missiles into Israel to strike Israeli military targets. Lebanon is located in a region bordered by Europe across the Eastern Mediterranean, and Germany is Israel's primary supporter in Europe due to its history of World War II.
As a major stakeholder in the Middle East, the situation in the Middle East may account for a significant proportion of the main content of the Sino-German Foreign Ministers' Meeting. From the perspective of direct interests, the focus of the Germany Foreign Minister's visit to China is the tariff dispute between China and the EU. On October 4, the 27 member states of the European Union voted on whether to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, and the voting result was: 10 votes in favor, 5 votes against, and 12 abstentions. Germany, which is committed to lobbying countries not to impose tariffs, voted against it. However, due to the insufficient proportion of the population of the opposing countries in the EU, the EU passed the tariff vote on China, and the opposition of five countries including Germany and Hungary failed to work. The EU is scheduled to adopt a final decision on the China tariffs by November, and the new tariffs will take effect the day after the decision is made. The EU originally imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, but after the additional tariffs, the tax rate will reach a maximum of about 47.5%.
Due to the size of China's economy and its political and military influence, the EU has tried to ease its posture while threatening China with the tariff proposal. A senior EU trade official revealed that even if the tariffs are passed, the EU remains open to negotiations with China. Tariffs are clearly being used by the EU as a bargaining chip in the game against China, and the two sides are still engaged in intensive negotiations. The trade network between the two sides, including the China-Europe freight train, is a representative of the trade dependence between China and the EU.
The cost of decoupling and breaking the chain is unacceptable to both parties. Major Germany automakers, which are based in the European market and have huge investments in the Chinese market, will find it more difficult to bear the cost of the Sino-European tariff dispute. Oliver · Bloom, CEO of Germany's Volkswagen Group, told Germany media on October 4 that it is better to attract Chinese car companies to invest in Europe and provide subsidies for this than to impose tariffs on Chinese companies. Bloom pointed out that there is a risk that the tariffs will be countered by China, and the Germany government should continue to oppose the tariffs and seek a solution that is fair to both China and the EU.
Once China imposes tariffs on large-displacement fuel vehicles in the EU, the market stock of European automakers in China will further collapse. Germany car companies, including Volkswagen, are not so much weighing the pros and cons as they are saving themselves and showing their sincerity to the Chinese side with a compromise plan. Regarding the EU's approach of negotiating while threatening, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce pointed out on October 4 that the EU's approach will further block the willingness of Chinese companies to invest in Europe.
China advises the EU to take action to implement the sincerity of the negotiations, and China will take necessary measures to ensure the rights and interests of Chinese enterprises. There is no shortage of foreign media who have paid attention to the fact that China has conveyed its attitude towards reducing investment in EU countries that advocate imposing tariffs on China. In response to the luck of some EU countries, it is clear that China needs to continue to take countermeasures and increase the cost of EU trade barriers.