For some time there has been talk of the possibility of the European Union imposing additional taxes on vehicles imported from regions such as China. It is due to the threat they pose in terms of electromobility due to their market advantage due to their prices. It would also be a response to the taxes that European models have in these regions. Finally it is confirmed that Europe will impose tariffs of up to 38% to Chinese electric cars. It will be done starting next July and the amounts vary.
The European Commission has declared that the manufacturers of the great Asian country enjoy an unfair advantage caused by the subsidies they receive. In China it is much cheaper to produce electric vehicles and that means their prices are lower than those of European models when they arrive here. With the objective of protect European industry, tariffs have been imposed that would begin to apply on July 4. There are still some questions up in the air, but it could change the current market quite a bit.
The rates are not fixed, as they depend on whether the manufacturer has cooperated with the European Commission in its anti-subsidy investigation. This means that those who did not do so receive the highest tariff and those who have done so have less tax:
- SAIC (MG) = 38.1% tariffs
- Geely (Lynk&Co, Zeekr…) = 21% tariffs
- BYD = 17.4% tariffs
These figures should be add another 10% taxes existing in the European Union, so some of these Chinese manufacturers will be forced to raise their prices to amortize their product. On the other hand, there are other producers such as Tesla, BMW, Mercedes or Volvo that they produce in China and import into Europe. These are excluded from the tariffs as they are considered cooperating companies.
The European Commission has in contact with the Chinese authorities and now negotiations will begin to see if it is maintained or if there are changes. The truth is that tariffs on Chinese electric cars They are larger than expected initially, since experts were betting that they would be between 10 and 25%. The decision has been made unevenly by different groups.
Vehicle suppliers, represented by Sernauto, disagree and say that this new competition serves to cause change. They affirm that the automotive sector is global and that the movement forces manufacturers to be more competitive. On the other hand, at the political level the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, has defended them. She says that measures must be promoted so that the European industry catches up that it has in the transformation towards new mobility models.
