China said Monday it has reached a deal with the European Union on exports of Chinese made electric vehicles to the bloc.
The Commerce Ministry in Beijing said the EU will be issuing guidelines on minimum pricing for Chinese auto exporters. It did not directly mention if the deal involved an end to the tariffs of up to 35.3 per cent that the EU imposed on imports of Chinese EVs in 2024 following an investigation.
“This is conducive not only to ensuring the healthy development of China-EU economic and trade relations, but also to safeguarding the rules-based international trade order,” a statement by the commerce ministry said.
The expansion of Chinese EV makers overseas has alarmed automakers in Europe and the US. The EU imposed the tariffs to counter an influx of affordably priced Chinese EV models into its markets, saying Chinese automakers had benefited from unfair government subsidies. The US enacted a 100 per cent tariff on China-made electric cars in 2024.
The value of battery-powered cars imported to Europe skyrocketed from $1.6 billion in 2020 to $11.5 billion in 2023. Most of the imports were from Western automakers with factories in China, including Tesla and BMW.
EU officials complained that Chinese’s homegrown automakers were poised to gobble up market share by undercutting European car brands on price thanks to Beijing’s massive subsidies. Those include orders for government fleets, low-interest loans from state-owned banks, access to cheap land for factories, tax breaks, and subsidized raw materials and parts from state-owned industries.
The US tariffs effectively block virtually all Chinese EV imports. The EU needs affordable electric cars from abroad to achieve its goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent by 2030.>
