Bankinter | The EU confirms the imposition of tariffs of up to 45% on imports of electric vehicles from China. The proposal was approved at the beginning of October with the favourable vote of 10 members (France and Italy, among them), the opposition of 5 (Germany being the most notable) and the abstention of 12 (Spain, for example). This decision allows the European Commission to implement the tariffs for a period of five years.
Opinion: Bad but expected news for Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers. Tariffs could reach up to 45% for some of them (SAIC, for example) against the current 10%. The aim is to curb the entry into Europe of vehicles that are highly subsidised by the Chinese government and can therefore be sold at substantially lower prices than those manufactured locally. As a reference, the share of electric vehicles in the EU has risen in the last three years from 3% to more than 20% and those imported from China account for around 8% (including not only Chinese manufacturers but also other Western manufacturers, such as Tesla). The risk for the European manufacturing sector is possible retaliation from China. Especially in the case of German manufacturers, which direct 30%/40% of their sales to China.
