Economy

The EU-China relationship
China's countermeasures: Investigating whether EU tariffs go against free trade

China is now launching an investigation into the EU's trade policies, after the Union previously announced that it was investigating Chinese state subsidies for industries linked to the green transition. This is reported by several media.

China has denied that its state subsidies would lead to unfair trade advantages and has repeatedly warned that it will defend its interests, writes AFP.

Trade relations between the EU and China have become increasingly chilly in recent months, writes Bloomberg. Among other things, the EU has introduced provisional tariffs on Chinese electric cars.

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Expert: The electric car duties will be passed on to consumers

The EU's tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars will reduce supply and make the vehicles more expensive, says Mobility Sweden's CEO Mattias Bergman for Privata Affärer.

Vehicle expert Karl Wahlin agrees. He believes that the customs costs will quickly be baked into the "new car prices".

- I cannot see any other reasonable scenario. Previous political decisions that affected the car market, for example the abolition of the climate bonus in Sweden, had a direct impact on prices, he tells the newspaper.

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Swedish inflation
Falling inflation in Norway and Denmark is seen as a good sign

Both Norway and Denmark have been hit by new inflation figures that show a slowdown in price pressure. The announcement bodes well for the Swedish figure on Friday, states DI.

Norwegian core inflation came down to 3.4 percent in June from 4.1 percent the month before, which was lower than analysts expected.

In Denmark, the corresponding figure dropped to 1.8 from 2.2 percent. SEB had expected a decline to 2 percent in Denmark.

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June inflation is expected to fall below the Riksbank's target

Inflation is expected to decrease sharply in June and for the first time since 2021 fall well below the Riksbank's target of 2 percent, TT reports.

The experts' average forecast for CPIF is for inflation to fall to 1.6 percent from 2.3 percent in May, according to Bloomberg.

SEB's strategist Amanda Sundström points out that it is not least prices for hotels and other parts of the service sector that are expected to come down.

- We see many signs from different quarters that inflation will continue to fall.

However, the development is particularly driven by so-called base effects, i.e. when inflation decreases because the differences in the comparative figures at an annual rate are greater than normal, she believes.