China and EU discuss trade in response to U.S.' punitive tariffs

By Liz Lee and Qiaoyi Li

BEIJING (Reuters) -China and the European Union have exchanged views on strengthening their economic and trade cooperation in response to U.S. tariffs, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Thursday.

In a video call on Tuesday, China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao discussed with European trade and economic security commissioner Maros Sefcovic the restart of talks on trade relief and to immediately carry out negotiations on electric vehicle price commitments, the Chinese ministry statement said.

The conversation came shortly before before U.S. President Donald Trump's additional tariffs on China started taking effect.

Trump has on Wednesday said he would temporarily lower the hefty duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries in a stunning reversal. He, however, ramped up pressure on China, threatening to raise tariffs on the world's second largest economy to 125%.

China is ready to deepen trade, investment and industrial cooperation with the European Union, Wang told Sefcovic.

Wang urged China and the EU to jointly safeguard the rules-based multilateral trading system and adhere to trade liberalisation and facilitation, "which will inject more stability and certainty into the world economy and global trade", the ministry statement said.

China and EU also discussed creating a more favourable business environment for enterprises and trade transfer issues.

They will continue to strengthen communication under the World Trade Organization framework and jointly promote WTO reform, the ministry statement said.

The EU had imposed additional tariffs of up to 35.3% on China-made electric vehicles at the end of October after an anti-subsidy investigation, on top of the bloc's standard 10% car import tariffs.

The commerce ministry said last week that the two sides have agreed to restart negotiations on minimum price commitments on Chinese EVs but did not specify when that would resume.

(Reporting by Liz Lee, Qiaoyi Li and Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill and Lincoln Feast.)