Post by account_disabled on Feb 25, 2024 2:29:53 GMT -5
The EU has announced an anti-subsidy investigation into China's electric car industry in a bid to protect European manufacturers before they are overtaken by Chinese rivals. While Chinese electric vehicle imports represent only a small portion of the bloc's market, they are growing rapidly and could reach 15 percent within two years, in a repeat of what the EU experienced with solar panels more than a year ago. decade. "We cannot afford to lose our car industry," said a senior EU diplomat. The EU will ban the sale of new combustion engine cars from 2035 to reduce carbon emissions and fears their electric replacements will be made in China, not Europe.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the investigation on Wednesday, marking a new escalation of tensions with Beijing over a series of policies aimed at reducing the bloc's dependence on the Job Function Email Database Asian power. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission © Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa An EU official said subsidies had already allowed Chinese imports to undercut European electric vehicle prices by about 20 percent. If the commission determines that domestic producers have been harmed, it could impose tariffs, probably between 10 and 15 percent. The investigation is expected to last nine months. Any move would also hit foreign investors who benefit from subsidies abroad, potentially including America's Tesla and Sweden's Polestar, among others. They would cover battery vehicles but not hybrids.
EU producers in China will be considered Chinese exporters. so they will have to fight for their own type of tariff,” said Arnoud Willems, a trade lawyer at Baker McKenzie. He said the action would only be moderately effective because it did not include imported batteries. A 10 percent tariff already applies to all car imports from China. The bloc has learned a lesson from its failed attempt a decade ago to save its solar industry from cheap Chinese imports, which were bought by European consumers with subsidies from their own governments. Brussels imposed tariffs in 2012 but lifted them six years later because it could not meet its renewable energy targets without Chinese production after many domestic suppliers closed.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the investigation on Wednesday, marking a new escalation of tensions with Beijing over a series of policies aimed at reducing the bloc's dependence on the Job Function Email Database Asian power. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission © Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa An EU official said subsidies had already allowed Chinese imports to undercut European electric vehicle prices by about 20 percent. If the commission determines that domestic producers have been harmed, it could impose tariffs, probably between 10 and 15 percent. The investigation is expected to last nine months. Any move would also hit foreign investors who benefit from subsidies abroad, potentially including America's Tesla and Sweden's Polestar, among others. They would cover battery vehicles but not hybrids.
EU producers in China will be considered Chinese exporters. so they will have to fight for their own type of tariff,” said Arnoud Willems, a trade lawyer at Baker McKenzie. He said the action would only be moderately effective because it did not include imported batteries. A 10 percent tariff already applies to all car imports from China. The bloc has learned a lesson from its failed attempt a decade ago to save its solar industry from cheap Chinese imports, which were bought by European consumers with subsidies from their own governments. Brussels imposed tariffs in 2012 but lifted them six years later because it could not meet its renewable energy targets without Chinese production after many domestic suppliers closed.