{"text":[[{"start":11.56,"text":"The UK, Japan and Turkey are seeking deals to include their carmaking sectors in the EU’s “Made in Europe” rules, amid concerns the bloc’s flagship new industrial policy will damage jobs and production."}],[{"start":25,"text":"The EU is proposing to focus the bloc’s public contracts and subsidies for technologies such as electric vehicles and clean energy on European-based manufacturing, in a radical shift from free-trade orthodoxy to counter China’s dominance in these industries and others."}],[{"start":41.4,"text":"Although countries that have trade agreements with the EU are included in parts of the Made in Europe scheme, clauses requiring vehicles to be assembled in the bloc to receive support — and excluding trade partners from some EV subsidies and fleet schemes — could damage non-EU carmakers’ businesses."}],[{"start":59.04,"text":"Carmakers with manufacturing operations in the UK, Japan and Turkey are therefore seeking to fully benefit from the proposed EU Industrial Accelerator Act that lays out the rules."}],[{"start":69.92,"text":"Japanese business representatives said Tokyo was seeking a bilateral deal with Brussels to include its industry in the EU scheme."}],[{"start":77.96,"text":"UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has raised concerns with French President Emmanuel Macron, saying the British car industry should not be caught in the crossfire of a policy aimed at tackling Chinese competition. The UK is seeking to link the issue to talks with the EU about a reset in relations that are expected in November."}],[{"start":96.96,"text":"Turkey, which is in a customs union with the EU, has sought to convince the European Commission not to cut the country’s car industry out of the Made in Europe rules."}],[{"start":106,"text":"EU-Turkey automotive trade is worth about €54bn annually including parts, with the EU having a €2bn export surplus. Ömer Bolat, Turkish trade minister, told the FT its exclusion would “hit the EU’s own industrial base”."}],[{"start":122.72,"text":"Canada was also seeking talks to gain access to the EU scheme, by keeping its industrial plans “aligned”, industry minister Mélanie Joly said this year."}],[{"start":132.08,"text":"Officials in Brussels said they were open to discussions with countries about individual deals to include their car sectors in the Made in Europe rules. “It’s about using our single market to open new business for our companies,” said one official."}],[{"start":145.04,"text":"Several people said the Japanese government has made it a top priority to negotiate Japan’s status in a “bilateral agreement” that would guarantee the country’s businesses were included from the beginning of the EU scheme’s implementation, likely by early 2027."}],[{"start":159.52,"text":"EU officials believe that aspects of Japanese public contracts — such as a clean-energy vehicle subsidy scheme — are not sufficiently favourable to the bloc’s companies. “We have no lessons to take from the Japanese on open markets,” said another official."}],[{"start":176.52,"text":"There are also concerns that Chinese carmakers could choose to set up shop in countries such as Turkey rather than the EU if the nation was included in the EU scheme."}],[{"start":185.96,"text":"However, Kemal Yazıcı, president of OIB, the Turkish car exporters association, said: “Turkey should not be treated as a ‘back door’ for Chinese automotive production.” He noted that it accounted for just 0.1 per cent of China’s total outward investment, while Chinese investment in Europe was about 38 times larger."}],[{"start":206.8,"text":"EU member states and the European parliament are currently negotiating legislation to underpin the Made in Europe rules, and trade partners want their status protected in those discussions, as any separate deals could prolong uncertainty for businesses."}],[{"start":222.04,"text":"Members of the European parliament are proposing the EU rules apply to manufacturing in the bloc but the European Commission would have discretion to include European trade partners like the UK."}],[{"start":232.76,"text":"Christophe Grudler, who is helping to draft the lawmakers’ position, said the legislation should stay true to its European ambitions, with exceptions only for neighbouring countries to the EU such as the UK."}],[{"start":244.24,"text":"“If we say it’s ‘Made in Europe’ and it’s manufactured on the other end of the world, voters are going to say these European legislators are mad,” he said."}],[{"start":257.64,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789458440_9860.mp3"}