The European Union has followed USA and announced an increase in tariffs on the import of electric vehicles from China starting July 4th.

The Serbian Association of Vehicle and Spare Parts Importers relays the announcement from the European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade, dated June 12, 2024, informing its members (EU) that "Annex 1" in accordance with EU Regulation 2016/1037 of June 8, 2016, on protecting the market from imports from non-EU countries that subsidize their producers through state policies, placing them in a privileged market position, has introduced measures that will result in increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers.

The European Commission explains its position that Chinese manufacturers with state subsidies violate market competition rules, causing economic harm to European manufacturers.

The Commission stated that it has invited Chinese authorities to clarify the results of the ongoing investigation and consider resolving the issue in the spirit of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

The statement further notes that the European Commission has "preliminarily concluded that electric car manufacturers in China benefit from illegal state subsidies and announced that it will impose countervailing duties if the two sides do not find a solution through dialogue."

Initially, these countervailing duties would be in the form of a deposit guarantee, with retroactive collection beginning once and if the tariffs are formally imposed.

The countervailing duties range from 17.4 percent for BYD Group, 20 percent for Geely Group, up to 38.1 percent for SAIC. For all other Chinese manufacturers who "cooperated in the EU investigation," a 21 percent tariff will be imposed. For those who did not cooperate (specifics not mentioned), the tariff will be 38.1 percent.

There are also Chinese manufacturers currently exempted due to the explanation that "there are no results yet from the investigation ('not sampled')," and for whom the existing tariff of 10 percent will still apply. These companies include Chery, Dongfeng, Great Wall...

The European Commission opened an investigation on October 4th last year regarding the violation of rules related to state subsidization of imported electric vehicles from China.

According to the decisions at the time, confirmed by "Annex 1," within nine months of the start of the investigation, i.e., no later than July 4th, preliminary countervailing duties can be imposed, and from that date, a four-month period begins for a decision on final measures.

In 2023, the EU imported nearly half a million cars from China.

The European Union has followed the footsteps of the USA, which recently increased tariffs on the import of parts and electric vehicles. Tariffs on lithium-ion batteries are now 25 percent, and on electric vehicles 100 percent.

To remind, in Serbia, the tariff on the import of vehicles (all, not just electric) from China is 12.5 percent.