Shown here is a photo of a Zeekr electric vehicle charging station in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China on November 14, 2022.
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images
European Union governments exposed divided views on the merits of EU tariffs on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles in a non-binding but still influential vote, sources with knowledge of the vote said on Tuesday.
The European Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, has set provisional tariffs of up to 37.6% on electric vehicles imported from China to combat what it says are unfair subsidies, and to seek the views of EU members in a so-called advisory vote.
Sources said a dozen EU members voted in favour of the tariffs, four voted against it and 11 abstained.
The Commission is expected to take this into account when deciding whether to impose fixed tariffs in what is the EU’s most high-profile trade case to date.
If it advocates imposing a tariff at the end of its investigation, it will be brought to a binding vote among EU members and imposed unless a qualified majority of 15 member states, representing 65% of the EU population, vote against it.
If the pattern of advisory voting is repeated then fixed duties, which usually apply for five years, will come into force.
However, the large number of people abstaining from voting reflects hesitancy among many EU members, who are aware of the Commission’s arguments that trade should be on a level playing field but are also conscious of the risk of a trade war with China. Beijing has threatened massive retaliation.
German carmakers, which made a third of their sales in China last year, have urged the EU to drop the tariffs, which would apply not just to Chinese producers such as BYD, Geely and SAIC but also to China-made cars from Western automakers such as Tesla and BMW.
In the vote, France, Italy and Spain supported the tariffs, while Germany, Finland and Sweden abstained, government sources said.
A German source said Finland abstained from voting in a spirit of “critical solidarity” with the Commission. An embassy official said Finland doubted whether this was in the EU’s interests, as not all European carmakers were in favour of the measures.
Swedish Trade Minister Johan Forsell said talks between the Commission and China would be very important to find a solution.
The commission will continue its investigation for the next three months.
In a sign of compromise, the European Commission has indicated it may consider lower tariffs. Bmw China-made electric mini and Volkswagen The incident took place at Kupra Tavaskán, two sources familiar with the matter said.
