EU threatens to raise import duties on Chinese electric cars from July 4

The European Commission is threatening to raise tariffs on imports of electric vehicles from China into the European Union (EU) from July 4 after preliminary findings of unfair practices by Beijing that favor Chinese manufacturers.

In his statement, the community leader indicated that temporarily imports of BYD electric vehicles will be taxed at a rate of 17.4%, Geely – 20% and SAIC – 38.1% – these are the brands included in the study sample.

Following the investigation, the Commission provisionally found that “it is in the EU’s interest to address the identified unfair commercial practices by introducing temporary countervailing duties on imports of electric vehicles from China.”

According to Brussels, China’s electric vehicle value chain benefits from unfair subsidies, posing the threat of economic harm to EU manufacturers.

In addition to the three mentioned in the statement, other Chinese electric vehicle makers that cooperated with the investigation but were not included in the sample will be taxed at 21%, while those that did not will be taxed at 38.1%.

Brussels has also contacted the Chinese authorities to discuss these findings and possible ways to resolve the issue, BUT, if negotiations with the Chinese authorities do not lead to an effective solution, these temporary countervailing duties will be introduced from July 4th through a guarantee, the form of which will be decided by the customs authorities of each member state.