Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
In an interview with China-based media outlet CGTN, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre confirmed that Norway will not align with the European Union’s recently announced additional tariffs on imported electric vehicles (EVs) from China.
In August, Norway set a new record with 94.3 percent of car sales being fully electric vehicles (BEVs), and nearly 1 in every 4 cars sold was a Tesla. The country remains a global leader in EV adoption, thanks to a supportive policy environment and consumer incentives.
“Norway is not a member of the European Union, but we have a close association through an agreement with the European market. This means we are not part of the EU’s trade policy, which is one reason why we will not be involved in this measure,” Prime Minister Støre stated.
China has criticized the EU’s measures as protectionist and has threatened retaliation across several industries, escalating tensions in global trade.
Støre further elaborated, “In general, one should avoid these kinds of tariffs, as they are punitive and often provoke retaliatory actions, which ultimately lead to losses on all sides.”
In August, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers maintained a modest presence in Norway’s market. Guangzhou-based XPeng sold 156 units, capturing a 1.5 percent market share, while China’s EV giant BYD sold 139 vehicles, accounting for 1.3 percent of the market. The Shanghai-based Nio sold 79 EVs representing a 0.79 per cent of market share.
Støre defended that the consumers in Norway “should have access to the cars they want to buy”.
“We don’t produce cars, nor are we part of this trade policy. I don’t want to impose additional burdens on Norwegian consumers—they should have access to the cars they want to buy,” Støre concluded.
Here’s the full video shared by CGTN.
Chinese electric vehicle stocks fell on Thursday after Bloomberg reported that Beijing has “strongly advised” automakers to protect their key technology by continuing production in China, with their — future —European factories handling only final assembly.
Earlier in the week, Bloomberg reported that the European Union will soon drop the extra tariffs on Tesla and some other local carmakers after reviewing new data shared by the automakers involved.
SAIC Group, which owns MG among other brands, is the most affected automaker and will see its tariff reduced to 35.3 per cent, down from 36.3 per cent.
Poland, Spain, Italy and Hungary are among the countries where the manufacturers are eyeing to produce vehicles for the European markets.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
