It had been in the air for days and now the official announcement has arrived. China has lodged an appeal with the World Trade Organization (WTO) in response to the European Union’s introduction of definitive tariffs on imports of Chinese electric cars on 31 October. Beijing, according to a note from the Ministry of Commerce published today, brought the case before the WTO dispute settlement mechanism to “safeguard the development interests” of the electric vehicle industry, reiterating “the strong opposition to the EU tariffs” seen as “trade protectionism in the name of compensation” anti-subsidies.
China expresses its opposition and “strongly opposes” high countervailing duties on Chinese-made electric vehicles, despite a barrage of objections raised by stakeholders, including governments of EU member states, industry and of public opinion,” a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said in a statement.
Beijing is therefore taking action with the aim of safeguarding the development interests of the electric vehicle industry, even relaunching the defense of global cooperation on the energy transition. And, as stated in the note, China “has decided to appeal to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism”.
A vast trade war between Brussels and Beijing
The fear of a trade war between the two blocs can be fought on multiple fronts. Let’s see in detail what measures Brussels has adopted on the Chinese e-car sector. The new European duties stand at 7.8 percent for Teslas produced in Shanghai, 17 percent for BYD’s e-cars, 18.8 percent for Geely and 35.3 percent for Saic. Instead, for the other groups that collaborated in the Brussels antitrust investigation the import surcharge is 20.7 percent compared to the 35.3 percent valid for all reticent companies. Overall, adding the 10 percent contribution already in force, the tariffs have reached 45 percent and a duration of five years.
The EU imposes duties on Chinese electric cars: increasingly expensive vehicles
Beijing, in response, has also launched investigations into EU subsidies on some dairy and pork products imported from China, as well as sanctioning brandy, and is working on raising tax rates from 15 to 25 percent for cars. large displacement. Growing trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels are not limited to electric vehicles, with the EU also investigating Chinese subsidies in the solar panel and wind turbine sectors. The European Union is not the only one to have imposed high tariffs on Chinese electric cars. In recent months, Canada and the USA have launched much higher measures, equal to 100 percent, to nip possible distortive effects on national industries.
