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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly publication.
Mercedes-Benz’s chief govt has warned of the consequences of a wave of tariffs and commerce obstacles as he pointed to the very best “complexity” the worldwide automotive {industry} has confronted in additional than three many years.
Ola Källenius, head of the German carmaker, mentioned the transition to electric vehicles alongside shifts in geopolitics and commerce had essentially challenged his {industry}, saying regionalisation would stay a pattern.
“I don’t suppose I’ve skilled a better degree of complexity in my 32 years within the enterprise,” he advised reporters gathered at Shanghai’s intently watched auto present.
The feedback got here as international carmakers have been pressured to cope with larger EU tariffs on electrical autos imported from China, in addition to President Donald Trump’s looming 25 per cent tariffs on automobile exports to the US.
Källenius mentioned his firm was nonetheless dedicated to the US — the place it bought 14 per cent of its automobiles final 12 months — within the “long-term” and likewise reiterated requires the EU to achieve an settlement with Beijing over EV tariffs.
Mercedes and different German carmakers have repeatedly hit out at EU tariffs on Chinese language-made electrical autos, which might attain as much as 45 per cent. They concern their exports to China might endure from retaliation by Beijing, and so they additionally ship EVs from China to Europe themselves.
Källenius on Wednesday reiterated hopes that an “equitable and clever answer” can be present in persevering with discussions between Brussels and Beijing.
That dispute has since been overshadowed by Trump’s commerce warfare with China, which has snarled international commerce after tariffs between the world’s two greatest economies this month spiralled to greater than 100 per cent.
“We’re additionally depending on the flexibility to import and export in all instructions — if restrictions, tariffs, different commerce obstacles come up, that’s not good for normal international commerce and would have an effect on us as properly,” he mentioned. Källenius was amongst a gaggle of automotive executives who met Trump final week to debate tariffs.
Audi chief govt Gernot Döllner additionally hit out at restrictions as he spoke on the sidelines of China’s greatest automobile present, the place global automakers have descended with new fashions in a market the place gross sales have drastically slumped amid fierce competitors from Chinese language gamers.
“Tariffs will not be the answer,” he mentioned in an interview with the Monetary Instances. “They hinder innovation and so they make a false competitors,” he added. “We’re producing in China for over 30 years now and we imagine different options must be discovered.”
“We see a dialogue within the US and hope that we now have stability there within the subsequent month,” he added.
The Shanghai auto present alerted the world to the fast growth of Chinese language EV know-how when it was last held within the metropolis in 2023. Tariffs on Chinese language autos had been imposed by the US and the EU in 2024 as automakers, together with BYD, expanded abroad.
However that industry-specific dispute has since been overshadowed by the commerce warfare between the US and China, which now threatens the way forward for the general movement of products between the 2 nations.
“It doesn’t matter what the present political policymaking is, [the US] is an economic system and market you need to have an excellent presence in,” Källenius mentioned.
He described China as “essentially the most competitively intense market”.
“I can solely repeat what historical past tells us: economies which might be free and open and are uncovered to the total power of competitors are often those which might be most revolutionary,” he added. “We’re open for competitors in any course via any nation on a degree enjoying area.”
