It was a strange company in which Germany found itself with its no to the tariffs on e-cars from China. Alongside the German government, only Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta had voted against – for very different reasons. Chancellor Olaf Scholz won the applause of the German car manufacturers for the vote, which was pushed through in the coalition with the authority to issue directives. In Brussels and other EU countries, however, his actions were met with a shake of the head.