German economy minister's China trip features low-key business delegation amid EV clash (updated)

Sartorius AG

18/06/2024 14:08

(Adds Enpal management member comment in paragraphs 4-6)
       BERLIN/FRANKFURT, June 18 (Reuters) - German renewables
firm Enpal and metal processing group Schoder will be among the
companies joining Economy Minister Robert Habeck's trip to China
later this week, suggesting a low-profile delegation as Brussels
and Beijing clash over EV tariffs.
    Unlike Chancellor Olaf Scholz's trip to China in April, no
German carmaker will accompany Habeck on the four-day trip to
South Korea and China, where growing trade tensions between
Europe's top economy and its second-biggest trading partner will
take centre stage.
    Both Enpal and Schoder said company representatives would
participate in the trip, confirming a Handelsblatt report.
    Henning Rath, in charge of Enpal's China business and a
member of the delegation, said the company wants to use the trip
to strengthen industrial production in the European Union.
    "Examples of such lighthouse projects could be an EU-based
photovoltaic module production line as well as photovoltaic
inverters and batteries," he said.
    "China has achieved technological leadership through joint
ventures - this is also the secret recipe to revitalise
manufacturing in Europe."
    Automotive supplier Voss is also among the companies
travelling with Habeck, as is laboratory gear maker Sartorius
 SATG.DE , according to people familiar with the matter, making
it the only German blue chip joining the delegation.
    Voss did not respond to a request for comment.
    Sartorius had no immediate comment.
    Habeck's trip comes a week after the European Commission
proposed tariffs on electric vehicle imports from China, marking
a new low point in economic relations and raising fears of
economic retaliation.
    Potential counter-tariffs would be particularly painful for
Germany's carmakers - Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE , Porsche
 P911_p.DE , Mercedes-Benz  MBGn.DE  and BMW  BMWG.DE  - which
heavily rely on China, the world's biggest auto market.
    Mercedes-Benz, BMW, BASF  BASFn.DE , Bayer  BAYGn.DE  and
Merck  MRCG.DE  were among the large cap firms that travelled
with Scholz during his trip to Beijing earlier this year.

 (Reporting by Rene Wagner, Christoph Steitz, Maria Martinez and
Patricia Weiss
Editing by Miranda Murray, Kim Coghill and Sharon Singleton)
 ((christoph.steitz@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220 133 647))