China leans on German carmakers to help break Brussels tariff deadlock, fix Nexperia mess

Commerce vice-minister urges German industry leaders to leverage their clout to push the European Commission towards a compromise on the anti-subsidy probe

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Labourers work on an assembly line at a factory in Chongqing, China, in May. Beijing has pressed German carmakers to help resolve disputes over the European Union’s anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:58pm, 8 Dec 2025

Beijing pressed German carmakers to help resolve disputes over the European Union’s anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and the Nexperia semiconductor saga, in separate video meetings on Monday.

Vice-Minister of Commerce Ling Ji made the appeal to German industry leaders, seeking to leverage their influence in Brussels.

Ling spoke with Hildegard Mueller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), and Ola Kallenius, president of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association and chairman of Mercedes-Benz Group.

Ling urged the German and European automotive groups to “leverage their influence to encourage the European Commission and China to move towards each other and resolve the electric-vehicle anti-subsidy investigation as soon as possible”, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Monday.

On Nexperia, Ling reiterated Beijing’s position that the Dutch government is to blame for supply-chain disruptions while China has been promptly implementing export-licence exemptions. He also called on the German side to help push for a corporate solution to the dispute.

For her part, Mueller reiterated the VDA’s opposition to Brussels’s anti-subsidy tariffs against Chinese EVs and expressed her hope that Nexperia could solve internal disputes through dialogue.

Currently visiting China, Mueller pointed to rare earth restrictions and the Nexperia saga as examples of where long-term solutions are needed to ensure supply, in a statement sent to the Post before her trip began.

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