EU to Officially Impose CV Duties on Chinese EVs
The EU will officially impose countervailing duties on electric vehicle imports from China (see 2408200020) despite months of lobbying from Beijing against the new tariffs (see 2410250015), which are meant to address EU concerns around Chinese EV subsidies. The new duties will remain in place for five years and will take effect the day after they’re published in the Official Journal of the EU, expected to be this week.
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The commission said China and the EU “continue to work towards finding” a solution to their dispute that would comply with World Trade Organization Rules. “The Commission also remains open to negotiating price undertakings with individual exporters, as is permitted under EU and WTO rules,” it said.
The bloc will impose varying rates for individual Chinese carmakers, including tariffs of 17% for BYD, 18.8% for Geely and 35.3% for SAIC. Other cooperating companies will be subject to a 20.7% duty, and Tesla will face a 7.8% rate. All other non-cooperating companies will face a 35.3% duty.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s trade chief, said the bloc welcomes competition in its EV sector, “but it must be underpinned by fairness and a level playing field. 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.”
The commission said it plans to “monitor the effectiveness” of the duties, including by scrutinizing companies that may be evading the duties. It also said any exporting EV producer who cooperated with the EU’s investigation and is subject to the sample average duty, or who is a new exporter, can request an accelerated review to establish an individual duty rate.
Importers can ask for a refund if they believe their exporting producer isn’t subsidized or if their subsidy margin is less than the duties paid by importers. “Such a request should be duly substantiated and supported by the respective evidence,” the commission said.
The commission also said it won’t collect the provisional duties it announced for Chinese EVs in July (see 2406120008).