Mercedes CEO: China EV tariffs will create 'lose-lose' trade war

Tariffs imposed on Chinese car makers selling electric cars in Europe threaten to create a “lose-lose” trade war, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius has told Autocar.

China has now confirmed it is investigating raising tariffs on large-capacity combustion cars imported from the EU in response – something that would directly harm Mercedes.

Källenius said tariffs were a “crude” way of responding to an issue and instead called for “a negotiated solution that both parties can live with”.

“If you as Europe, and Germany in particular within Europe, for 100 years-plus, and certainly after World War Two, have been a very big benefactor of markets opening up and the ability to import and export in all directions, I think it is not the right strategy to turn to protectionism.