Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Starting this Wednesday, all the battery electric vehicles imported from China into Europe will face an extra tariff that can go from 7.8% (Tesla) to 35.3%. The new duty is a result of the investigation started by the European Commission a year ago and comes on top of the 10% import tariff.
The Elon Musk led EV giant, which has its most productive factory in Shanghai, will face the lowest tariff while China’s group SAIC, which owns the MG brand, will face the highest one.
Other cooperating companies — such as Nio and XPeng— will face a duty of 20.7%, while non-cooperating companies will incur a higher rate of 35.3%.
The European Commission says it will monitor compliance closely to prevent circumvention and is open to negotiating price commitments with individual exporters in line with EU and WTO rules.
“By adopting these proportionate and targeted measures after a rigorous investigation, we’re standing up for fair market practices and for the European industrial base,” European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Tuesday.
The duties are set to expire after five years unless renewed by a formal review “unless an amicable solution is found,” Dombrovskis stated.
Earlier this week, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce urged on Monday that Europe sticks to the existing framework and work towards a concrete agreement as quickly as possible.
Last Friday, China’s Minister Wang Wentao and Executive Vice President Dombrovskis of the European Commission met virtually with China reiterating it has received “full authorization from various types of Chinese companies to propose a price commitment plan that represents the industry’s overall position.”
The Ministry warned that individual negotiations by the European Commission with companies, rather than exclusively with China, would weaken mutual trust, disrupt the negotiation process, and increase costs.
“If the EU, while negotiating with China, also holds separate price commitment discussions with certain companies, it would undermine mutual trust, disrupt the overall negotiation process, and add more administrative costs to the subsequent implementation and oversight of the price commitment agreement,” the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated.
Earlier this month, Brussels rejected a Chinese proposal to set a minimum price of €30,000 ($32,900) for all the China-made EVs sold in Europe.
When rejecting the minimum price proposal, Brussels said that the matter extends beyond pricing alone, highlighting the need to address state subsidies that Chinese EV manufacturers allegedly receive, which distort competition within the EU market.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
The post Chinese EV Tariffs in EU Take Effect Wednesday, With Negotiations Still Open first appeared on EV.