EU gives green light to introduce high tariffs on Chinese electric cars

This article was originally published in English

The European Commission has given the final green light for implementation high tariffs on manufactured electric vehicles In China, an investigation that began a year ago is officially closed. Tariffs will apply starting from Wednesday and will continue for the next five years.

Meanwhile, Brussels will continue negotiations with Beijing to try to reach an agreement on minimum prices which can replace tariffs. However, this solution, advocated by Germany, is very complex and will be difficult to implement on the ground.

“Having taken these measures provided And selective After a thorough investigation, we are defending fair market practices and the European industrial base,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the Commission responsible for trade.

Entry into force was expected after an inconclusive vote earlier this month in which member states failed to muster the required majority for or against the measures. The Commission used its commercial powers to unblock the situation and assert the rights that are added to the current rate of 10% and vary by brand as noted below.

• Tesla: 7.8%.
• BID: 17
• Gili: 18.8
• SAIC: 35.3%.
• Other Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers involved in the investigation but not included in the sample: 20.7%.
• Other EV manufacturers in China that have not cooperated: 35.3%

The executive branch argues that additional tariffs necessary to offset the impact of subsidies that Beijing says it is introducing on a large scale to its domestic electric vehicle (EV) sector. Generous financial support has allowed Chinese manufacturers to sell their cars at artificially low prices compared to their European competitors, the Commission confirms.

As a result sales electric vehicles from Chinese companies in Europe increased the Commission estimates that its market share increased from 1.9% in 2020 to 14.1% in the second quarter of 2024.

Brussels has repeatedly warned that without decisive action, EU carmakers will suffer unsustainable losses and be squeezed out of the lucrative net zero mobility market, leading to closing factories and laying off thousands of workers. The bloc’s auto industry is already in crisis due to high energy prices, sluggish consumer demand and intense global competition.

“Eat clear and present threat that our auto industry will not switch to electric vehicles and will therefore be destroyed,” a senior EU official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Despite the tariffs, Brussels says it maintains its position. commitment to find a solution with Beijing applicable through customs duties and compatible with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, which until now remained elusive.

China condemned the investigation from the very beginning Commission as an “open act of protectionism”, systematically denying the existence of subsidies, calling the findings “artificially constructed and exaggerated” and threatening retaliatory measures against the EU’s dairy, cognac and pork industries, causing alarm in some capitals. “We did not agree on every fact that we established during the investigation,” a senior EU official said. “It was widespread disagreement“.

nose USA And Canada imposing 100% tariffs For Chinese electric vehicles, Europe remains one of the few rich markets still available for Beijing’s high-quality products.