The European Union risks entering an “economic cold war” with China, Hungary's prime minister said on Friday, pledging to vote against an EU plan to impose higher tariffs on the import of Chinese electric vehicles.

Hungary will veto an EU proposal that seeks to impose tariffs of up to 45% on imports of electric vehicles (EVs) made in China as the plan is "harmful and dangerous", Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on his Facebook page on Thursday.

The EU executive could adopt the tariffs or could submit a new proposal if it wished to secure broader support among EU members.