EU lists lower tariff on China-made Teslas as it revises duties
Al Jazeera
EU changes its punitive duties on imports of Chinese-made EVs, including those made in joint ventures with EU firms.
The European Union has slashed its planned extra tariff on Tesla electric vehicles (EVs) imported from China by more than half, the bloc’s executive says, after further investigations requested by the company.
The European Commission, which made its comments on Tuesday, also revised its proposed punitive duties on imports of Chinese-made EVs in draft findings in the highest-profile EU investigation of alleged Chinese subsidies, which has provoked threats of retaliation from Beijing.
It set a new reduced extra rate of 9 percent for Tesla, lower than the 20.8 percent it had indicated in July, and said some Chinese companies in joint ventures with EU automakers may also receive lower planned punitive duties on Chinese-made EV imports.
The tariffs are on top of the EU’s standard 10 percent duty on car imports, a measure the commission said is aimed at levelling the playing field and countering what it called unfair subsidies.
Tesla had requested a recalculation of its rate to be based on the specific subsidies the company had received. The commission said on Tuesday that it had verified that Tesla received fewer subsidies from the Chinese government compared with the country’s EV makers, which Brussels had investigated.
