Proposed European Union tariffs on Chinese goods are not a "punishment", Germany's Economy Minister Robert Habeck told Chinese officials in Beijing on Saturday (Jun 22). Habeck's visit to China is the first by a senior European official since Brussels proposed hefty duties on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) to combat what the EU considers excessive subsidies. China warned on Friday ahead of his arrival that escalating frictions with the EU over EVs could trigger a trade war. "It is important to understand that these are not punitive tariffs," Habeck said in the first plenary session of a climate ... (full story)