World

China targets Europe’s farmers in response to EU tariffs on electric cars

Published

1 week ago

June 19, 2024

China targets Europe’s farmers in response to EU tariffs on electric cars

The Chinese government is taking aim at European farmers instead of German automakers by launching an investigation into European Union pork imports, just days after the EU said it plans to impose provisional tariffs on China-made electric vehicles.

The Commerce Ministry didn’t mention the EV tariffs when it announced Monday that it is opening an anti-dumping investigation into pork from Europe, but the move is widely seen as a response to the EU move on electric cars. It also gives China a bargaining chip in any trade negotiations.

EUROPEANS AWAIT CHINA’S RESPONSE TO NEW EU TARIFFS ON CHINESE CARS

China could have slapped a 25% duty on imports of gasoline-powered vehicles with large engines in the name of combating climate change, a step that would would have hit Mercedes and BMW hard. In choosing not to do so, at least for now, the government may be acknowledging the public opposition of the German auto industry to the EU tariffs, as well as its sizeable production in China.

The Chinese market is a major one for German automakers, and the head of the country’s auto association, the VDA, described the June 12 EU tariff announcement as a further step away from global cooperation. “The risk of a global trade conflict is rising further as a result of this measure,” Hildegard Müller said in a statement.

A promoter at a booth for imported Spanish pork prepares for another day at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, on Nov. 6, 2018. The Chinese government is taking aim at European farmers instead of German automakers by launching an investigation into European Union pork imports, just days after the EU said it plans to impose provisional tariffs on China-made electric vehicles. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

The investigation of EU pork imports will cover various products including fresh and frozen pork meat, intestines and other internal organs. The announcement says it is expected to take one year, with a possible six-month extension.

Olof Gill, a spokesperson on trade for the European Commission, told journalists in Brussels that EU farm subsidies “are strictly in line with our WTO obligations” and that the commission would follow the investigation very closely and intervene as needed to ensure that the Chinese probe complies with World Trade Organization rules.

Chinese officials have said the EU investigation into subsidies for electric vehicle production in China is “typical protectionist behavior” that disregards WTO rules. The EU plans to impose provisional tariffs of 17.4% to 38.1% on EVs from China for four months starting July 4. They would apply to vehicles exported to Europe by both Chinese and foreign brands, including Tesla.

EU exports of pork products to China hit a peak at 7.4 billion euros ($7.9 billion) in 2020 when Beijing had to turn abroad to satisfy domestic demand after its pig farms were decimated by a swine disease. Since then they have dropped, hitting 2.5 billion euros ($2.6 billion) last year. Almost half of that total came from Spain.

“We must avoid an escalation of trade countermeasures,” said Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo.

The Spanish pork industry association Interporc said in a statement that it would “offer complete collaboration with Chinese authorities” and provide them with any documents they required.

“The agricultural industry does not tend to be the source of conflicts but it does end up paying the price often enough,” said Spain’s Minister for Agriculture, Luis Planas, citing the United States’ imposition of tariffs on some EU farming products in 2019 during a dispute over subsidies for aircraft maker Airbus.

“I believe that we have both the time and the margin to negotiate and try to avoid this trade conflict,” Planas said.

World

US banks suffer steeper losses, but retain large cushions in annual Fed health check

Published

56 mins ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

US banks suffer steeper losses, but retain large cushions in annual Fed health check

The biggest U.S. banks would have enough capital to withstand severe economic and market turmoil, the Federal Reserve’s annual “stress test” exercise showed on Wednesday, but firms faced steeper hypothetical losses this year due to riskier portfolios.

World

Bolivian president survives failed coup, calls for 'democracy to be respected,' army general arrested

Published

2 hours ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

Bolivian president survives failed coup, calls for 'democracy to be respected,' army general arrested

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Bolivian President Luis Arce announced three new heads of the South American country’s armed forces following an attempted coup in which military units used armored vehicles to ram into the doors of Bolivia’s government palace before the army general allegedly responsible was arrested.

The news of the new heads of the army, navy and air force came amid the roar of supporters.

“The country is facing an attempted coup d’état. Here we are, firm in Casa Grande, to confront any coup attempt. We need the Bolivian people to organize,” Arce said in a video message.

Video footage showed troops setting up blockades outside the government palace. Arce said the troops who rose against him were “staining the uniform” of the military.

BOLIVIAN INTERIM GOVERNMENT ACCUSES MORALES OF TERRORISM, SEDITION

Bolivian president Luis Arce (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

“I order all that are mobilized to return to their units,” said the newly appointed army chief José Wilson Sánchez. “No one wants the images we’re seeing in the streets.”

Soon after, troops began pulling back from the presidential palace.

Arce confronted Army Gen. Juan José Zúñiga, who was recently stripped of his military command and who appeared to be leading the rebellion, in the palace hallway, as shown in a video on Bolivian television. Zúñiga was later arrested after the attorney general opened an investigation against him. It wasn’t immediately clear what the charges were against him.

Zuniga said Arce asked him to storm the palace in a political move.

“The president told me: ‘The situation is very screwed up, very critical. It is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity’,” Zúñiga told reporters.

Army Cmdr. Gen. Juan Jose Zuniga arrested

Army Cmdr. Gen. Juan Jose Zuniga sits inside an armored vehicle at Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday. Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia’s government palace Wednesday as President Luis Arce said the country faced an attempted coup. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Zúñiga sajd he asked Arce if he should “take out the armored vehicles?” and Arce replied, “Take them out.”

“I am your captain, and I order you to withdraw your soldiers, and I will not allow this insubordination,” he said.

On X, Arce called for “democracy to be respected.”

The United States said it was closely monitoring the situation and urged calm and restraint.

BRAZIL’S PRESIDENT WITHDRAWS AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL, LEAVING DIPLOMATIC POST VACANT

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA – JUNE 26: Military Police walk amid tear gas outside the presidential palace at Plaza Murillo on June 26, 2024, in La Paz, Bolivia. President of Bolivia Luis Arce warned about irregular movements of military troops and raises the alert of a possible Coup d’état. (Photo by Gaston Brito Miserocchi/Getty Image)

Bolivia, a country of 12 million people, has seen intensifying protests in recent months over the economy’s precipitous decline from one of the continent’s fastest-growing two decades ago to one of its most crisis-stricken.

The country also has seen a high-profile rift at the highest levels of the governing party. Arce and his one-time ally, leftist icon and former President Morales, have been battling for the future of Bolivia’s splintering Movement for Socialism, known by its Spanish acronym MAS, ahead of elections in 2025.

The leadership of Bolivia’s largest labor union condemned the action and declared an indefinite strike of social and labor organizations in La Paz in defense of the government.

The incident was met with a wave of outrage by other regional leaders, including the Organization of American States; Gabriel Boric, the president of neighboring Chile; the leader of Honduras, and former Bolivian leaders.

26 June 2024, Bolivia, La Paz: Supporters of Bolivian President Arce rally in support of democracy near the government palace during an attempted coup. (Photo by Radoslaw Czajkowski/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The most recent attempted coup on the continent occurred in December 2022 when Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was arrested the same day that he attempted to dissolve Congress, declare a state of emergency and re-write the constitution. He was eventually impeached and removed from office.

“Brazil’s position is clear. I am a lover of democracy and I want it to prevail throughout Latin America. We condemn any form of coup d’état in Bolivia and reaffirm our commitment to the people and democracy in our sister country,” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrote on X.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

World

The Take: Israel signals a shift in the war on Gaza

Published

2 hours ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

The Take: Israel signals a shift in the war on Gaza

Podcast, The Take

Netanyahu’s interview on Israeli television suggests changing priorities in the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is ending the “intense” phase of the war on Gaza and signals a shift of focus to the simmering conflict on the country’s northern border with Lebanon. So, what will this mean on the ground?

In this episode:

Daniel Levy – President of the US/Middle East Project, and a former Israeli peace negotiator

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Sarí el-Khalili, Ashish Malhotra, and Sonia Bhagat, with Amy Walters, Mohammed Zain Shafi Khan, Duha Mosaad, Veronique Eshaya, and our host Natasha Del Toro, in for Malika Bilal.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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