EU argues for and against China's EV tariffs

This is because there are many governments that try to avoid trade wars with China and protect the interests of their country's largest automobile manufacturers.

In the non-binding vote held on Tuesday, 12 EU member states voted in favor, but 4 countries voted against and 11 abstained, a source detailed in the vote told Reuters.

Although the vote was not binding, the European Commission is expected to consider the EU government's position on tariffs when deciding whether to seek a 5-year fixed tariff.

The current tariffs, which have been in effect since July 5, are provisional for up to 4 months.

The EU began an anti-subsidy investigation in 2023/10 to investigate whether China's value chain is benefiting from illegal subsidies when the EU imports EVs from China.

This tariff has led to a backlash from China, and China is proceeding with anti-dumping investigations against imported goods from the EU. It targets the import of brandy and pork from the EU, and it seems that it was aimed at Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

Analysts say that due to such an immediate investigation, it appears that China is trying to force Spain and France on the EV tariff issue and persuade other EU member states to lower tariffs.

The VDA, the German automobile manufacturer association, has stated that anti-subsidy tariffs “will not achieve the stated goals of ensuring fair competition conditions and protecting the domestic industry from unfair practices.”

“European anti-subsidy tariffs will affect not only Chinese manufacturers, but also European companies and their joint ventures in particular,” the VDA added.

According to what a source detailed on this issue told Reuters this week, it is said that the European Commission suggested to Volkswagen and BMW, which are Germany's top automobile manufacturers, that their imports of Chinese-made EVs in the EU may be classified as imports from companies cooperating with anti-subsidy investigations. Since Volkswagen and BMW, which are cooperating companies, were not included in the EU sample analysis, a low tariff of 20.8% from the current maximum tariff rate of 37.6% will be applied.