Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the European Commission have entered “the next phase of negotiation” regarding the extra tariffs on imported electric vehicles from China.
In a new update, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce urged on Monday that Europe sticks to the existing framework and work towards a concrete agreement as quickly as possible.
Last Friday, China’s Minister Wang Wentao and Executive Vice President Dombrovskis of the European Commission met virtually with China reiterating it has received “full authorization from various types of Chinese companies to propose a price commitment plan that represents the industry’s overall position.”
The Ministry warned that individual negotiations by the European Commission with companies, rather than exclusively with China, would weaken mutual trust, disrupt the negotiation process, and increase costs.
“If the EU, while negotiating with China, also holds separate price commitment discussions with certain companies, it would undermine mutual trust, disrupt the overall negotiation process, and add more administrative costs to the subsequent implementation and oversight of the price commitment agreement,” the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated.
Earlier this month, Brussels rejected a Chinese proposal to set a minimum price of €30,000 ($32,900) for all the China-made EVs sold in Europe.
When rejecting the minimum price proposal, Brussels said that the matter extends beyond pricing alone, highlighting the need to address state subsidies that Chinese EV manufacturers allegedly receive, which distort competition within the EU market.
This proposal emerged amid ongoing negotiations tied to the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs, which could result in tariffs starting next week, on October 31, if no agreement is reached.
The European Commission launched the investigation amid allegations that Chinese EV makers receive government subsidies, enabling them to price their vehicles more competitively than European manufacturers.
EU member states recently voted on proposed anti-subsidy tariffs, with Germany and four other nations opposing the tariffs, while 12 abstained, and 10 voted in favor.
Supporters of the tariffs included France, Italy, and several Eastern European countries, including Poland, Latvia, and Estonia.
If imposed, the new tariffs would add to the existing 10% duty on EV imports. Tesla would face an additional 7.8 percent tariff, while Chinese automakers BYD and Geely could see tariffs of 17 percent and 18.8 percent, respectively.
Companies that cooperated with the investigation would incur a 20.7 percent tariff, while non-cooperating firms, including SAIC Group, could be hit with a 35.3 percent duty.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
