TMTPost -- Norway joins in two top European economies calling for the European Union to drop its proposal for elevated tariffs on electric vehicle (EV) imports from China.

Credit：Xinhua News Agency

No country should impose such EV tariffs, which would only hurt both sides in the end, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in an interview with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). The Prime Minister stressed that Norway does not produce cars and has not joined the EU's trade policy, adding that his government does not want to burden its consumers, who have the right to buy the cars they want.

"Norway has no car production. We are not a member of the European Union, so we don't have a common trade policy and will not impose sanctions unilaterally in this regard," Store said Wednesday in Shanghai.

Store made the remarks as he concluded a three-day official visit to China in connection with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. In his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping Monday, Store said Norway looks forward to expanding cooperation with China, especially in such fields as green development, climate change, maritime affairs and shipping, agriculture and fishery industries, new energy vehicles (NEVs) and artificial intelligence (AI). In talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang Tuesday, Store repeated the willing of further cooperation. He said that Norway adheres to the one-China policy and looks forward to expanding practical cooperation in fields such as economy, trade, investment, maritime affairs, green economy, scientific and technological innovation, and the Arctic affairs.

Store is the third European leader that expressed opposition to the EV tariff these days. Heads of Germany and Spain called on the European Union to push back the additional tariffs on Chinese EVs earlier this week.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the EU should reconsider its plan to impose additional tariffs of up to 36 percent on Chinese-made EVs ."I have to be blunt and frank with you that we need to reconsider — all of us, not only member states but also the Commission — our position towards this movement," Sanchez told reporters on Wednesday before concluding a four-day trip in China.

"We don't need another war, in this case a trade war," Sánchez said in Kunshan, China. "I think we need to build bridges between the European Union and China, and from Spain what we will do is to be constructive and to try to find a solution, a compromise, between China and the European Commission."

Sánchez became the first to demand a rethink to the impending trade measures. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz echoed his call. German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit welcomed the Spanish move, saying “the direction of travel is one that we share.”

Months earlier, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson showed his skepticism of the EU’s stance. Kristersson said in May that the EU must consider the benefits of trading with China when making a decision about EV tariff. “It is fundamentally a bad idea to dismantle global trade,” Kristersson said when asked about the prospects for EU tariffs on Chinese cars. “You shouldn’t be naive — sourcing can be disrupted for various reasons and we have good reasons to demand a level playing field, but a wider trade war where we block each other’s products is not the way to go for industrial nations such as Germany and Sweden.”