BEIJING, June 21 (Reuters) - The European Union may trigger a 'trade war' if it continues to escalate tensions, China's commerce ministry said on Friday, accusing the bloc of foul play during its eight month-long anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles.
Last week, the European Commission proposed tariffs of up to 38.1% on electric vehicle imports from China despite Beijing's protest, plunging trade ties to a new low and risking punitive action from the world's second-largest economy.
"The European side continues to escalate trade frictions and could trigger a 'trade war'," a statement attributed to the commerce ministry's spokesperson said. "The responsibility lies entirely with the European side."
"In its countervailing duties investigation, the European side intimidated and coerced Chinese enterprises, threatened to apply punitive high tariff rates, and demanded overly broad information," it added.
The commerce ministry statement was published about an hour before the arrival of German Economy Minister Robert Habeck in Beijing, where he is expected to explain to Chinese officials the recent tariff announcement while allaying the risk of retaliation from China that could harm German businesses.
German carmakers would be the most exposed to any counter moves from China, as almost a third of their sales came from the $18.6 trillion economy last year.
EU car exports to China were worth 19.4 billion euros ($20.8 billion) in 2023, while the bloc bought 9.7 billion euros of electric vehicles from China, according to EU statistics agency figures.
In its statement, the commerce ministry said the European Commission, which overseas trade policy for the 27-nation EU, had "improperly used the countervailing duties investigation tool" and had failed to comply with World Trade Organization rules by "independently initiating" its probe into Chinese EVs.
Beijing has also launched an dumping investigation into EU pork imports, which the commerce ministry says was prompted by a complaint submitted by the China Animal Husbandry Association.
On Thursday, He Yadong, commerce ministry spokesperson, said the Commission had "mandatorily required" Chinese automakers hand over an "unprecedented" amount of information and "more than what is required for a counterveiling duties investigation," when asked by Chinese state radio whether the EU had sought to "spy" on China's EV industry. (Reporting by Joe Cash and Ryan Woo; additional reporting by Ella Cao and Ethan Wang; Editing by Christopher Cushing, William Maclean and Miral Fahmy)
