HONG KONG, August 22. /TASS/. The head of the EU diplomatic service, Josep Borrell, said that he considers the start of a trade war with China practically unavoidable.

"We mustn’t be naive, we have no interest to get into a trade war [with China], but maybe it is unavoidable," the South China Morning Post quotes him as saying.

According to Borrell, the likely aggravation of trade relations between the EU and China "is in line with the logic of things."

But he also added that Europe should not engage in systematic confrontation with China or curb its growth.

On August 20, the European Commission announced the introduction of duties on Chinese electric cars. According to the position of official Brussels, these tariffs were applied based on the results of an investigation into the "illegal subsidies" that Beijing allegedly provides to Chinese automakers. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce considered the EC's decision to be an example of "unfair competition."