Until now, it was believed that European parliamentarians should vote by September 25 to approve increased duties on the import of Chinese-made electric vehicles into the European Union for five years. The date passed this past week, but the vote had to be postponed to October 4 due to last-minute attempts by the Chinese side to continue negotiations on this topic.
Image source: BYD
Bloomberg reported changes in the tariff approval schedule at the end of this week. In the current version of the bill, electric vehicles produced in China, when imported into the European Union, should be subject to differentiated import duties, the maximum value of which reaches 45%. The rate varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and Tesla products, which also ship partly from China to Europe, should attract some of the lowest tariffs.
In general, negotiations with the Chinese side may continue after the decision is made to introduce increased duties from November this year. To this end, the bill may include a corresponding amendment that will not stop the negotiation process after the five-year tariffs are approved in November. By the way, even October 4 is not the final date for voting on this bill; everything can still change, since there is no consensus among EU members on the need to introduce increased duties on the import of Chinese electric vehicles. Germany and Spain, which have extensive business ties with China, for example, resist their introduction, fearing damage to business. In order to approve the duties in the proposed form, 15 EU countries, on whose territory 65% of the bloc’s population lives, must vote for them.