The European Commission threatens to increase tariffs on imports of electric vehicles from China by the European Union (EU) starting from July 4, after provisionally concluding that Beijing is benefiting Chinese manufacturers with “unfair subsidies, which is causing an economic threat to EU electric vehicle producers”.
In a statement, the community executive indicated that, provisionally, imports of electric vehicles from BYD will be subject to a 17.4% tax, Geely to 20%, and SAIC to 38.1%, these being the brands included in the investigated sample.
Based on the findings of the investigation, the Commission has provisionally established that it is “in the interest of the EU to remedy the effects of the detected unfair trade practices by imposing provisional countervailing duties on imports of electric vehicles from China”.
According to Brussels, the value chain of Chinese electric vehicles benefits from unfair subsidies, which is causing an economic threat to EU manufacturers.
In addition to the three manufacturers mentioned in the statement, other Chinese electric car manufacturers that cooperated with the investigation, but were not included in the sample, will be taxed at 21%, and those that did not cooperate at 38.1%.
Brussels has also contacted the Chinese authorities to discuss these findings and possible ways to resolve the issue, but “if discussions with the Chinese authorities do not lead to an effective solution, these provisional compensatory rights will be introduced from July 4th through a guarantee (in the form to be decided by the customs of each Member State). They will only be charged if and when definitive rights are instituted”, the statement adds.
