Visitors watch a vehicle of Song PLUS by Chinese NEV manufacturer BYD during the 2024 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing, capital of China, May 4, 2024. The exhibition closed on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

An official from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on Monday slammed the US' imposing higher import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, saying that the industry's development needs global cooperation. 

Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president of the CAAM, said on Monday that auto manufacturing is a highly globalized industry which needs global vision and open mind to promote its healthy development, adding that trade protectionism and isolationism should never be the guiding principle for new-energy vehicles (NEV) industry.

Fu made the remarks in response to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's stating on May 8 that US could take "extreme action" and ban Chinese connected vehicles or impose import restrictions on them.

Fu deplored the US government' "overcapacity" narrative targeting China's EV industry and overstatement of the national security concerns are good examples of trade protectionism. 

"The new energy industry is a collective creation of the mankind, and has the potential to bring numerous benefits to human society. It is unjustifiable that the access to the US market is restricted after such a creation has been developed," Fu stated.

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding Ltd on Friday saw its share price soar by 35 percent at the close of its opening day on the New York Stock Exchange, which came after a report on the same day stating that the Biden administration is planning to levy tariffs on Chinese EVs.

Observers noted that the response at the US capital market suggested that good quality and reasonably priced EVs remain in good demand, a rebuttal of the alleged "overcapacity" narrative targeting Chinese green energy products. 

In 2023, China exported 1.203 million new-energy vehicles, a 77.6 percent increase year-on-year. The exports reached over 180 countries across Europe, Asia, Oceania, the Americas, and Africa.

From January to April this year, China's NEV exports amounted to 421,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 20.8 percent, data from the CAAM showed.

Global Times