EU Lowers Proposed Tariffs on Chinese EVs Ahead of Trade Talks

The European Union has slightly lowered its proposed tariffs on imports of China-made electric vehicles in the EU, as the bloc and China have agreed to hold consultations on the tariff spat.

The EU adjusted some of the planned import tariffs – which will come on top of an existing 10% duty – after receiving move information from Chinese EV makers subject to the ongoing EU anti-subsidy probe, an anonymous source with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

Earlier this month, the European Commission announced provisional tariffs on Chinese EVs in Europe, ranging from 17.4% for BYD to 38.1% for SAIC and all other BEV producers that haven’t cooperated with the EU in its investigation into illegal subsidies for the Chinese manufacturers.

Now the new proposed rate for SAIC and the other producers

that haven’t cooperated in the investigation is adjusted lower to 37.6%, the tariff for Geely Automobile is 19.9% from 20%, while the tariff on BYD remains the same at 17.4%. EV producers that have cooperated in the probe but have not been sampled would be subject to a 20.8% duty, down from the proposed weighted average duty of 21%, according to Bloomberg’s source.

The EU launched in October 2023 anti-subsidy investigations into EU imports of EVs from China to determine whether the value chains in China benefit from illegal subsidies.

This month, the Commission “provisionally concluded that the battery electric vehicles (BEV) value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidization, which is causing a threat of economic injury to EU BEV producers.” 

The proposed provisional duties would be introduced from July 4, the EU said.

Amid the ongoing tariff spat, China said this weekend that its Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice president of the European Commission, agreed to start consultations on the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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