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Mercedes boss Ola Källenius: "Maybe the EU has no choice"
Photo:
Bernd Weissbrod / dpa
Mercedes-Benz boss Ola Källenius has defended the much-criticised visit by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to China.
It was absolutely correct that Scholz was the first leading Western politician to recently meet President Xi Jinping at the party congress after his term was extended.
"Moving away from China because something could happen would be the wrong direction," said Källenius at an event at the Berlin business school ESMT on Monday.
In addition, Källenius spoke out against distancing himself from China.
In view of the economic importance of the world's second largest economy, it was "absolutely unimaginable" to write off the country, said Källenius.
He is deeply convinced of the benefits of globalization.
The German car industry is heavily dependent on China, the world's largest car market.
Mercedes-Benz does a good third of its business in the People's Republic.
In principle, what counts is fair, equal competitive conditions, said Källenius.
Protectionism is harmful.
But he currently sees this coming from the USA in the form of subsidies for products manufactured in the country.
The regulations of the US government's Inflation Reduction Act hurt the European auto industry.
Warning about "subsidy races"
"We run the risk of getting into a kind of subsidy race," said Källenius.
"Maybe the EU has no choice in entering this race if we don't want to fall behind."
The European Union is concerned that tax incentives for parts produced in the USA will lead to outsourcing of production.
The EU set up a task force with the US government last week to look for solutions.
Sol/Reuters
