The EU can impose additional tariffs on electric cars China raise. The EU Commission says it has the necessary support from member states to impose the planned punitive tariffs on electric cars from China. The Brussels authority announced this on Friday after the decisive vote.
A sufficient majority of EU states have not spoken out against the project. This means that the EU Commission can decide to introduce taxes of up to 35.3 percent.
Germany was unable to assert its position. Although the most populous EU country voted against the tariffs in Brussels, in order to be able to prevent them, a majority of the EU states would have had to speak out against the plan, which together make up at least 65 percent of the total population of the EU.
However, the federal government initially disagreed, until the chancellor Olaf Scholz (66, SPD) had brought about a decision shortly before the vote. In the traffic light coalition, the FDP-led ministries of finance and transport pushed for a German no vote in Brussels. Scholz was also critical of possible punitive tariffs. The Green-led economic and foreign ministries had advocated abstaining from the vote in order to continue looking for a negotiated solution with China
Negotiated solution can still stop tariffs
The European Commission announced the additional tariffs after an investigation accused Beijing of promoting electric cars with subsidies that distort the EU market. It is up to the Commission whether the import duties will come into force at the beginning of November. But if a solution is reached with China at the negotiating table in time, the tariffs can be stopped.
Specifically, it is about tariffs of 7.8 percent for Tesla and 35.3 percent for companies that did not cooperate with the EU Commission in the investigation. The amount depends, among other things, on how many subsidies a manufacturer receives. According to the plans, all other manufacturers should initially pay a flat rate of 21.3 percent, including the German top dogs VW, Mercedes and BMW. They also produce in China for export.
The additional tariffs will be added to an already existing tariff of 10 percent and will initially apply for five years. Even after the tariffs have been introduced, negotiations with the Chinese leadership in Beijing are still possible, it was said in Brussels.
It is still unclear whether or to what extent the tariffs would be passed on to customers.