Already in July, the European Union (EU) imposed additional temporary duties on Chinese electric car imports, as an EC investigation concluded that electric cars produced in China benefit from unfair subsidies, which can economically harm European manufacturers of cars with electric engines.
On Tuesday, the EC came up with a draft plan to make these fees permanent, requiring interested parties to provide the necessary information to assess the situation by the end of August.
The Commission intends to apply the permanent import duties to the largest Chinese producers. The market leader BYD would be subject to an additional duty of 17%, Geely it would be 19.3% and SAIC – 36.3%. However, these fees would be reduced compared to the temporary fees introduced in July.
Meanwhile, other producers in China who cooperated with Brussels would face a 21.3% levy, while those who did not would face a maximum levy of 36.3%.
US electric car maker Tesla, which makes cars in China, had asked Brussels to impose another 9% levy on it after the EC concluded it was benefiting less from Chinese subsidies than domestic manufacturers.
Imports of Chinese-made electric cars to the EU have surged in recent years, but officials in the bloc believe Chinese automakers such as BYD and SAIC are increasing their market share and are able to command lower prices than European automakers thanks to Beijing’s heavy subsidies.
“The EU is ready to find a solution that would be an alternative solution to the application of duties that would be effective and compatible with the WTO,” the EC said on Tuesday. “We believe that the creation of alternatives is largely dependent on China.”
2024-08-21 05:07:31