The head of German carmaker BMW criticized European Commission threats to impose punitive tariffs on imported Chinese electric vehicles.
Tariffs are "the wrong way to go," BMW chief executive Oliver Zipse said on Wednesday. "The European Commission is damaging European companies and European interests."
Zipse warned that trade protectionism could set a spiral in motion, with tariffs leading to new tariffs and isolation.
"From the BMW Group's point of view, protectionist measures such as the introduction of import tariffs do not help us to compete on international markets," he said.
BMW also builds the electric BMW iX3 SUV and the electric Mini Cooper in China for the European Union market. Conversely, BMW exports its 4, 6, 7, i7 and 8 models to China from a plant in Bavaria in Germany.