EU announces higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles as trade tensions rise

Employees work on the new energy vehicle assembly line at a factory of Chinese electric vehicle startup Leapmotor on April 1, 2024 in Jinhua, China’s Zhejiang province.

Shi Kuanbing | Visual Group China | Getty Images

The European Union announced on Wednesday that it would impose higher tariffs on Chinese imports of electric vehicles, which it said benefit “heavily from unfair subsidies” and pose a “threat of economic harm” to European producers. of electric vehicles.

In a statement, the EU said it was imposing a 38.1% customs duty on battery electric vehicle (BEV) producers who failed to cooperate with its investigation, and a lower duty of 21% on automakers from the Asian country who complied but were not “sampled.” “.

China’s main BEV producer, BYD, was hit with a 17.4% tariff, and Geely with a 20% duty. The EU also imposed its 38.1% tariffs on SAIC.

All three producers were sampled as part of the EU investigation.

This breaking news story is currently being updated.