The EU Commission concluded an anti-subsidy investigation into electric cars from China Tuesday by imposing duties on EV imports for a period of five years while discussions on price undertakings continue.
The Commission’s investigation had found that the EV value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidization which is causing threat of economic injury to EU producers of BEVs. The EU duties are now set to enter into force on the day following publication in the Official Journal.
The EU executive stresses that the EU and China continue to work towards finding alternative, WTO-compatible solutions that would be effective in addressing the problems identified by the investigation. It adds that it also remains open to negotiating price undertakings with individual exporters, as is permitted under EU and WTO rules.
As from the entry into force of the measures, sampled Chinese exporting producers will be subject to the following countervailing duties: BYD: 17.0%; Geely: 18.8%; SAIC: 35.3%.
Other cooperating companies will be subject to a duty of 20.7%. Following a substantiated request for an individual examination, Tesla will be assigned a duty of 7.8%. All other non-cooperating companies will have a duty of 35.3%.
Definitive duties will be collected as of entry into force. The provisional duties imposed on imports of BEVs from China on 4 July 2024 will not be collected.
Going forward, the Commission says it will monitor the effectiveness of the measures in force, including to ensure that they are not circumvented.
Any exporting producer who cooperated and is subject to the sample average duty, or who is a new exporter, is entitled to request an accelerated review to establish an individual duty rate.
The measures are due to expire at the end of the 5-year period unless an expiry review is initiated before then.
Importers may request a refund if they believe their exporting producer is not subsidised or if their subsidy margin is less than the duties paid by the importers. Such a request should be duly substantiated and supported by the respective evidence.
