Brussels [Belgium], The European Commission (EC), in a bid to counter China's attempts to capture European markets, has imposed additional tariffs to maintain healthy competition in the EU electric vehicle market.
The additional taxes will be imposed on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made in China from July 5, Euro News reported on Thursday.
The decision to impose the taxes was made after an extensive nine-month investigation by the EC, which concluded: "The electric vehicle value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidies, which is leading to a threat of economic harm to EU BEV producers.
In addition, the investigation also examined the possible consequences and impacts of the measures on importers, users and consumers of BEVs in the EU.
"Public money was detected everywhere, from the extraction of raw materials needed to produce batteries to the shipping services used to bring finished products to Europe's shores," Euro News quoted a European Commission official as saying.
The report also mentions that the huge scale of subsidies allowed by the Chinese authorities to their BEV manufacturers allows them to sell their Chinese EVs at significantly lower prices compared to European-made EVs.
The European news organization stated that these lower prices have led to significant differences in the market share of BEVs supplied by China, with a notable difference from 3.9 percent in 2020 to 25 percent in 2023, according to data published by the EC.
This difference in BEV costs in both regions poses a threat to the EU economy, directly and indirectly affecting approximately 12 million jobs and causing significant losses to European countries. Citing the EC statement, the Euro News report claimed that the taxes will be imposed on top of the existing 10 percent tax rates for electric vehicles in the EU.
The EU imposed these taxes based on the parent company, annual turnover, and the suspected amount of subsidies received by China.
According to the EC report cited by Euro News, the EU has imposed a tariff of 17.4 percent on BYD vehicles, 19.9 percent on Geely vehicles and 37.6 percent on vehicles manufactured by SAIC.
The EC report further mentions that other BEV producers in China, which cooperated in the investigation but have not been included in the sample, would be subject to a weighted average duty of 21 percent. All other BEV producers in China that did not cooperate in the investigation would be subject to a residual duty of 38.1 percent.
The additional taxes will be imposed on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made in China from July 5, Euro News reported on Thursday.
The decision to impose the taxes was made after an extensive nine-month investigation by the EC, which concluded: "The electric vehicle value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidies, which is leading to a threat of economic harm to EU BEV producers.
In addition, the investigation also examined the possible consequences and impacts of the measures on importers, users and consumers of BEVs in the EU.
"Public money was detected everywhere, from the extraction of raw materials needed to produce batteries to the shipping services used to bring finished products to Europe's shores," Euro News quoted a European Commission official as saying.
The report also mentions that the huge scale of subsidies allowed by the Chinese authorities to their BEV manufacturers allows them to sell their Chinese EVs at significantly lower prices compared to European-made EVs.
The European news organization stated that these lower prices have led to significant differences in the market share of BEVs supplied by China, with a notable difference from 3.9 percent in 2020 to 25 percent in 2023, according to data published by the EC.
This difference in BEV costs in both regions poses a threat to the EU economy, directly and indirectly affecting approximately 12 million jobs and causing significant losses to European countries. Citing the EC statement, the Euro News report claimed that the taxes will be imposed on top of the existing 10 percent tax rates for electric vehicles in the EU.
The EU imposed these taxes based on the parent company, annual turnover, and the suspected amount of subsidies received by China.
According to the EC report cited by Euro News, the EU has imposed a tariff of 17.4 percent on BYD vehicles, 19.9 percent on Geely vehicles and 37.6 percent on vehicles manufactured by SAIC.
The EC report further mentions that other BEV producers in China, which cooperated in the investigation but have not been included in the sample, would be subject to a weighted average duty of 21 percent. All other BEV producers in China that did not cooperate in the investigation would be subject to a residual duty of 38.1 percent.
