China-EU to Initiate Consultations on EU's Electric Vehicle Countervailing Investigation
TapTechNews June 28th, the Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference on the 27th. The spokesperson, He Ya-dong, said that China and the EU will initiate consultations regarding the EU's countervailing investigation case against Chinese electric vehicles and hope to reach a mutually acceptable solution.
He Ya-dong stated that China has repeatedly expressed serious concerns and firm opposition regarding the EU's countervailing investigation against Chinese electric vehicles, and has always advocated properly handling economic and trade frictions through dialogue and consultation.
When responding to a question from a Reuters reporter about what actions China will take if the EU continues to implement tariffs, He Ya-dong said that the working teams of both sides are rushing to promote the consultation work and striving to reach a mutually acceptable solution to address the legitimate concerns of both sides.
According to TapTechNews' previous report, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, He Ya-dong, had stated at the press conference on June 20 that, according to the enterprises' reflection, in the EU's countervailing investigation against Chinese electric vehicles, the European Commission requested a large amount of information from Chinese electric vehicle and battery enterprises on production and operation, development plans, technical processes, product formulas.
...For example, requiring Chinese enterprises to provide detailed battery compositions and formulas, and also asking enterprises to provide the production cost of electric vehicles, the purchase information of all electric vehicle parts and raw materials item by item, sales channels and pricing methods, customer information in Europe, supply chain layout information, etc. The types, scopes, and quantities of information collected by the European Commission are unprecedented, far exceeding what is required for a countervailing investigation.
During the investigation process, the European Commission repeatedly stated that if there is no cooperation, an unfavorable ruling result will be faced, and it forced enterprises to provide the above information. After Chinese enterprises cooperated as much as possible to provide information in the investigation, the European Commission still unjustly accused Chinese enterprises of not cooperating fully and imposed punitive high tax rates on enterprises. Chinese enterprises are very shocked and disappointed about this.
The relevant practices of the European side lack factual and legal bases, ignore WTO rules, damage fair competition, and damage global green transformation and open cooperation. Regarding this, China firmly opposes it and will take all necessary measures to firmly defend the legitimate rights of Chinese enterprises.
The European Commission issued a statement on June 12, intending to levy a temporary countervailing duty on electric vehicles imported from China starting from July 4. The statement specifically mentioned the ratio of the tariff increase (currently, the EU levies a 10% general import duty on all imported pure electric vehicles):
Add 17.4% for BYD.
Add 20% for Geely.
Add 38.1% for SAIC Motor.
Add 21% tariff for other electric vehicle producers that cooperate in the investigation.
Add 38.1% tariff for all other electric vehicle producers that do not cooperate in the investigation.
Related Reading:
Ministry of Commerce: The EU Requests Information from Chinese Electric Vehicles Far Exceeding What Is Required for a Countervailing Investigation.