Unlike the unilateral actions of the American authorities, who with a wave of a pen instantly increased duties on imports of Chinese electric vehicles fourfold, European officials initially focused on dialogue with the Chinese side, and as a result of this, even before the introduction of temporary duties, their size was revised downwards, as reported by Bloomberg.
Fonte da imagem: BYD
Let us recall that the European Union already has 10% import duties on electric vehicles, and from July 4, a surcharge will be added to them, varying depending on the brand of the Chinese electric vehicle. In particular, the SAIC auto concern was among the most suspected by the EU authorities of receiving subsidies from the Chinese government, and therefore its products will face an additional duty of 37.6% when imported into Europe. This is less than the 38.1% that was intended from the very beginning, but the difference of half a percent does not make a difference overall.
The Chinese corporation Geely, which owns the Volvo and Lotus brands, will get off with a surcharge of 19.9%, which is only 0.1 percentage point less than previously expected. Finally, the largest manufacturer of electric cars in China, the BYD concern, which is also very active in terms of exports, will get off with the same 17.4% in addition to the existing rate of 10%. In other words, European officials did not revise the amount of the duty for this manufacturer, but it was initially lenient.
Other Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers who plan to import their vehicles to the EU will face either an average surcharge of 20.8% or the same rate as SAIC at 37.6%. By early November, the European Commission will once again review the customs policy to approve the import rates for Chinese-made electric vehicles for the next five years. The German authorities are pushing higher authorities to more constructive negotiations with China, as they fear retaliatory measures from the Chinese authorities, which remains not only an important sales market for German manufacturers, but also a major production site. Chinese officials are also trying to interact with each EU country on an individual basis, since the trade turnover between them has its own specifics.