EU imposes 38% duty on Chinese electric cars - with special conditions for Tesla

Starting next month, Chinese electric cars imported into the EU will receive increased tariffs up to 38.1%, in addition to the current 10%.

At the same time, such strict tariffs will not apply to all cars: according to Carscoops, SAIC, the owner of MG, will receive the maximum at 38.1%, while Geely vehicles will receive 20%, and BYD electric cars – 17.4%.

Last year, 1 in 5 electric cars sold in Europe was made in China – in 2024, according to forecasts, the figures will increase to 1 in 4.

Car manufacturers not subject to EU investigation will receive tariffs up to 21%, but may request a review in hopes of getting lower figures. The EU Commission also provided a special regime for Tesla, which owns a giga-factory in Shanghai, and "may receive a individually calculated duty rate after a justified request."

The new tariffs will be implemented on July 4th. The EU preliminary investigation concluded that the pricing chain of battery electric vehicles in China "benefits from unfair subsidization" and stated their interest in introducing "temporary compensatory duties" on BEVs imported from the country.

Recall, a few weeks ago in the USA, even stricter tariffs were imposed on imported Chinese cars – with an increase from 25% to 100%.

As noted by Reuters, China's Ministry of Commerce stated that it will closely monitor developments and take "all necessary measures to protect the legitimate rights of Chinese companies." Beijing has already initiated an anti-dumping investigation into imports primarily of French brands; in April, a law was also passed to strengthen China's ability to counter US and EU tariffs.

Some experts believe that the immediate impact of additional tariffs will be very insignificant in economic terms, as the EU has already imported around 440,000 electric cars from China over 12 months (as of the end of April) totaling 9 billion euros.

"However, anti-subsidy duties are designed to limit future growth in electric vehicle imports, which would otherwise occur, rather than block current trade," said Andrew Kenning from Capital Economics.