It is all reminiscent of Brexit wranglings of the past. But this time it concerns an industry of the future.
这一切都让人想起了过去关于英国脱欧的争论。但这一次，它涉及到一个未来的行业。
Batteries for electric vehicles must, under the Brexit agreement, source 60 per cent of their value from within the UK or Europe to qualify for tariff-free trade from 2024, a threshold that jumps again in 2027. Too much foreign content, in the jargon, and cars will face 10 per cent tariffs.
根据英国脱欧协议，电动汽车的电池必须有60%的价值来自英国或欧洲，才有资格从2024年起享受免关税贸易，这一门槛在2027年再次提高。用行话说，如果外国成分太多，汽车将面临10%的关税。
The point of these rules was to force the development of a European battery industry and its lengthy supply chain. This has not happened to the extent envisaged or required to enable the automotive manufacturers to meet the rules, say carmakers on both sides of the Channel.
这些规定的意义在于推动欧洲电池行业及其冗长供应链的发展。英吉利海峡(English Channel)两岸的汽车制造商表示，这并没有达到使汽车制造商能够满足规则所设想或要求的程度。
“There are different constituencies, with different priorities here,” says trade expert Sam Lowe of Flint Global, noting that the battery and chemicals sectors stand to benefit from this onshoring. “But there does need to be an extension [of the 2024 deadline], otherwise you will have the absurd situation where electric vehicles traded between the UK and Europe are subject to tariffs but petrol vehicles are not.”
Flint Global的贸易专家山姆•洛威(Sam Lowe)表示：“这里有不同的选区，有不同的优先事项。”他指出，电池和化工行业将从这种在岸外包中受益，“但确实需要延长（2024年的最后期限），否则就会出现英国和欧洲之间交易的电动汽车要缴纳关税，而汽油车却不用的荒谬局面”。