The European Commission (EC) has confirmed tariffs on electric cars made in China, which will take effect from July 5 (tomorrow), a decision that aims to redefine relations with Beijing and could prompt retaliatory measures against European manufacturers.
The ruling, announced in early June, is the result of a nine-month investigation that found electric cars being made in China were being subsidized by the state, including domestic and foreign companies, by mining the raw materials needed to make the batteries. to the transport services used to bring the cars to the shores of Europe.
The large scale of subsidies has allowed Chinese producers to charge significantly lower prices than European producers, where energy and labor costs are very high.
China had just 3.9 percent of the market in 2020, but that rose to 25 percent in 2023, according to the European Commission.
This wave of low-cost imports represents a "threat of economic damage" to EU industry that could lead to devastating losses and put more than 12 million direct and indirect jobs at risk, the EC has said.
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Tariffs are therefore necessary to offset the advantage provided by subsidies.
The fees are set by calculating the annual turnover and the subsidies received by each company.
The company "SAIC" will have a 37.6 percent tariff, "Geely" will have a 19.9 percent tariff and "BYD" 17.4 percent. Other China manufacturers that cooperated in the investigation but were not individually sampled, including Teslam and BMW: 20 percent. Other China producers that did not cooperate: 37.6 percent.
EU member states will vote in two weeks on the issue, but it will not be binding and will serve to test the political waters. The tariffs will remain in place until a final decision is taken in four months, which member states can block by majority vote.
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Germany and Hungary are among those likely to object, although they may not reach the numbers required to derail the initiative. (At least 15 member states.)
Meanwhile, Brussels and Beijing will discuss possible solutions that could avoid the permanent imposition of tariffs.
