European Union imposes duties on Chinese electric vehicles

Illustrative photo: The European Union will impose duties on electric cars from China in four months (Getty Images)

On Thursday, July 4, the European Commission introduced temporary countervailing duties on imports of Chinese electric vehicles, according to the European Commission's website.

According to the European Commission, the duty is temporary during negotiations with China regarding its subsidizing of domestic manufacturers. This decision was preceded by a European Commission investigation that lasted about nine months.

"Based on the investigation, the Commission has concluded that the BEV value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidization, which is causing a threat of economic injury to EU BEV producers. The investigation has also examined the likely consequences and impact of these measures on importers, users, and consumers of BEVs in the EU," the statement said.

Individual duties applied to three Chinese manufacturers:

  • BYD - 17.4%;
  • Geely - 19.9%;
  • SAIC - 37.6%;
  • other Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers that cooperated in the investigation but were not selected are subject to a weighted average duty of 20.8%;
  • the duty for other companies that did not cooperate is 37.6%.

These duties will be applied from July 5, 2024, for a maximum period of four months. During this period, a final decision on the final duties should be taken by a vote of the EU Member States. If this decision is made, the duties will be final for five years.

Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that the European Union is developing plans to impose duties on cheap goods from Chinese online stores, including Temu, Shein, and AliExpress.

At the same time, the Chinese brand Zeekr, which is part of the Geely holding, has banned its dealers from selling cars in Russia, causing concern among dealers of other brands about possible consequences.