During the past six months, the EU Commission has conducted an investigation into whether punitive tariffs should be introduced against Chinese electric car manufacturers.
Could damage the automotive industry within the EU
The investigation has determined that China is subsidizing its car manufacturers in a way that puts them at an unfair competitive position, which in turn could harm important industry within the EU.
The purpose of the tariffs is thus to protect the domestic car industry in Europe. Now they have released the first information about how high the tariffs will be.
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Chinese electric cars are to be punished
The information regarding the level at which tariffs against Chinese electric cars would land has varied between 25 and 35 percent.
Similar tariffs have already been hammered through in the United States, where the penalty for importing Chinese electric cars is as much as 100 percent.
That the information has diverged turns out to be because the EU planned several different levels of penalties, based on how different car manufacturers acted during the investigation.
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Duties of up to 38.1 percent
The car manufacturer in the EU’s first sample that receives the lowest penalty is BYD, with a fee of 17.4 percent.
It looks worst for SAIC Motors, the group behind the MG brand, which is charged with a fee of a whopping 38.1 percent. Volvo Car’s owner Geely receives a customs fee of 20 percent.
Other car manufacturers that cooperated with the investigation but did not participate in the random sample conducted by the EU are all charged a fee of 21 percent.
American Tesla, which manufactures some models in China for sale in Europe, is mentioned as an exception that could get its own tariff in the long run.
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May enter into force on July 4
The European Commission says it is willing to introduce the new tariffs against Chinese electric cars from July 4 this year.
For a few months now, they have also registered all Chinese cars that are imported in order to be able to charge them with penalties afterwards.
From the Chinese point of view, the new customs fees are viewed critically.
– This is a naked protectionist measure, which creates and reinforces trade frictions and “destroys fair competition” with the motivation that it “maintains fair competition”, comments China’s Minister of Commerce according to CNBC.
Even directors of several of Europe’s major car manufacturers have expressed themselves as critical of the customs duties, which they believe can damage competition in the long run.
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