AUTONEWS

EU admits that surcharges of up to 35% will be added to vehicles from China. Germans opposed the measure out of fear

There is already a 10% tax in force on electric vehicles, surcharges of up to 35% will be added. Germans opposed the measure out of fear of a trade war with China.

Beijing expressed this Friday “strong opposition” to the European Union’s decision to impose additional taxes on Chinese electric vehicles, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.

“China firmly opposes the EU’s unfair, non-compliant and shameful protectionist practices in this case and strongly opposes the EU’s imposition of anti-subsidy duties on Chinese electric vehicles,” according to the ministry.

The ministry urged EU countries to “get back on track” by resolving trade tensions through dialogue, and warned that it would “safeguard the interests of Chinese companies”.

For the China Chamber of Commerce in the European Union, the imposition of high tariffs “will not only harm Chinese companies”, but also “European and multinational companies with operations in China”. The imposition “will not improve the resilience of local European industry” and could “dissuade future Chinese investments in Europe, harming the competitiveness of the European market and weakening the global supply chain for electric vehicles”, the same source warned. The Chinese car giant Geely indicated that “this decision risks damaging economic and trade relations between the EU and China”. In a vote held this Friday, the 27 confirmed the imposition of customs duties on electric cars imported from China, despite opposition from the Germans, who fear a trade war with Beijing. 

The European Commission now has carte blanche to add to the 10% tax already in force a surcharge of up to 35% on battery-powered vehicles manufactured in China. These countervailing duties are expected to come into force at the end of October. In detail, the additional duties will amount to 7.8% for Tesla, 17% for BYD, 18.8% for Geely and 35.3% for SAIC, according to a final document sent to member states on 27 September. The stated aim is to restore a level playing field with manufacturers accused of benefiting from significant public subsidies.

The imposition of taxes is also intended to protect the European car industry and its approximately 14 million jobs against practices deemed unfair and identified during a lengthy Commission investigation. The application of tariffs began in July on a provisional basis when Brussels decided to impose customs duties of up to 36.3% on carmaker SAIC, 19.3% on Geely and 17% on BYD, alleging that they receive subsidies that harm EU manufacturers. The tariffs also affect imports from Western manufacturers that produce in China, such as Telsa, Dacio and BMW, which would be taxed at 21%.

In June, in response to the tariffs, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced an “anti-dumping” investigation against EU pork or offal — both chilled and frozen — as well as pork fat and by-products or offal, a measure that could end up affecting Spain, the main exporter of pork to China, both at EU and global level.

According to data from Chinese customs, in 2023, the Asian giant imported 1.537 billion dollars of these products from Spain.

The conclusions of this investigation are expected to be known within a year, although the process could be extended for another six months “in special circumstances”.

In addition to pork, Beijing announced in August an anti-subsidy investigation into certain imports of dairy products from the EU, which notably affects Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Croatia, Finland, Romania and the Czech Republic.

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