EU and China close to dropping electric vehicle duties – trade chief

Brussels and Beijing are close to concluding a pact to eliminate EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, the head of the European Parliament’s Trade Committee, Bernd Lange, said on Saturday in an interview with Germany’s ntv news outlet.

In October, the European Commission imposed tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese-made battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The levies, which became effective on October 30, came on top of the EU’s standard 10% duty on imported automobiles.

“We are also still negotiating with the Chinese side regarding the electric cars. We are close to a solution with China to abolish the tariffs,” Lange told ntv.

“We are close to an agreement: China could commit to offering the electric cars in the EU at a minimum price,” the bloc’s top trade official said, emphasizing that it could “eliminate the distortion of competition through unfair subsidies, which is why the tariffs were originally introduced.”

The duties were impose following a year-long high-profile trade investigation by the EU. Brussels argued that the action was necessary to protect European carmakers from unfair competition, noting that Chinese producers benefit from state subsidies.

The measure divided the EU and triggered retaliation from Beijing. Germany, one of the world’s biggest car producers, voiced its objections to the tariffs along with Hungary, warning of “a trade war” and calling for a negotiated solution.

In response, Beijing imposed provisional tariffs on liquor coming from the bloc. The temporary anti-dumping levies that came into force on October 11 range from 30.6% to 39%. In August, the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced that according to preliminary findings, European producers were selling goods in China below market rates, threatening “substantial damage” to domestic producers. Anti-dumping probes were also launched into EU pork and dairy products.