The European Union decided to increase up to 36% the tax rates on Chinese electric vehicles starting next October, a measure that will be applied for five years, unless China presents an alternative proposal to solve the situation in the market.
A note published by Voice of America details that the European Union plans to tax imports of Chinese electric vehicles at up to 36% for five years, unless Beijing offers an alternative solution, the European Commission announced Tuesday.
These tariffs, which are in addition to the 10% tariffs already applied to vehicles manufactured in China, will come into force between now and the end of October and will replace the temporary tariffs decided in July, set at 38%, the Commission said in a statement.
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The Commission declared itself “open” to dialogue and to any alternative solution from Beijing to avoid these taxes, which some Member States, such as Germany and Sweden, have criticized.
The Response
For its part, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the EU expressed in a statement “its deep dissatisfaction and strong opposition to the protectionist approach” of the Commission and warned of the danger of the “exacerbation of trade tensions between the EU and China.”
The European Commission also announced that it will not collect the provisional duties that had come into effect on July 5. The money from these will remain in a blocked account and will then be returned.
These new duties will be definitively adopted by November unless a qualified majority of members (15 countries representing 65% of the European population) object.
Brussels will impose additional tariffs of 17% on the manufacturer BYD, instead of the 17.4% provided for in the provisional rate decided last month; 19.3% on Geely (compared to 19.9%) and 36.3% on SAIC (compared to 37.6%).
The remaining manufacturers will be imposed an average additional rate of 21.3%, up from the 20.8% decided in July, if they cooperated with the investigation; and 36.3% otherwise (compared to the 37.6% predicted a month ago).
