On October 4, the European Union voted to impose tariffs of up to 45 percent on Chinese-made electric cars, Bloomberg reported, citing its sources. According to them, the European Commission, the EU's executive body, can now start implementing the tariffs, which will be in force for five years.
Ten EU member states reportedly voted in favor of the tariffs, while Germany and four other countries voted against and 12 abstained. This EU decision was taken after an investigation showed that the Chinese government was unfairly subsidizing Chinese industry.
Authorities in Beijing deny this and threaten to impose retaliatory tariffs on European dairy products, spirits, pork and car products. As Bloomberg notes, the EU is actively trying to reduce its dependence on China. Former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi previously said that “Chinese state-sponsored competition” poses a threat to the European Union and can make it vulnerable.
According to journalists, the new tariff rates will be up to 35% for Chinese electric cars that are planned to be imported into the EU (they will be added to the existing rate of 10%).
Additional duties have already slowed sales of Chinese cars in Europe - they fell by 48% in August 2024. EU countries are a desirable market for representatives of the Chinese car industry - in particular, because electric cars are sold in relatively large quantities and at much more favorable prices than in other export markets, notes Bloomberg.
In the past three years, the share of electric vehicles sold in the EU and manufactured in China has increased from around 3% to over 20%. In addition, Chinese brands directly took about 8% of the market share, and the rest was taken by international companies that export products made in China (including Tesla Inc.).