France drops its opposition to UK being classed as 'Made in Europe' if Britain aligns on Chinese EV tariffs

France has reversed its opposition to including the UK in the EU's Industrial Accelerator Act, backing Germany's long-held position that Britain should qualify as 'Made in Europe' for the purposes of protecting domestic car manufacturing from cheap Chinese competition. The condition is that Britain must align fully with EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. A joint Franco-German paper proposes the UK and Norway be given an opt-in to the automotive 'Made in Europe' designation, subject to full reciprocity on trade defence measures.

The Industrial Accelerator Act is still in draft and is designed to shield European car manufacturers from cheap Chinese imports flooding the market.