EU's Anti-Subsidy Investigation Against Chinese Electric Vehicles
TapTechNews June 23rd, according to the Ministry of Commerce, on June 22nd, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao held a video meeting with the Executive Vice President of the European Commission and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis upon invitation. It was agreed that consultations would be initiated on the EU's anti-subsidy investigation case against Chinese electric vehicles.
According to previous reports by TapTechNews, on June 12th, the European Commission issued a statement proposing to levy a provisional anti-subsidy tax on imported electric vehicles from China starting from July 4th. The statement specifically mentioned the rates of tariff increase (currently the EU levies a 10% general import tax on all imported pure electric vehicles):
17.4% for BYD
20% for Geely
38.1% for SAIC
21% tariff for other electric vehicle producers cooperating in the investigation
38.1% tariff for all other electric vehicle producers not cooperating in the investigation
In response to the European Commission's investigation, He Yadong, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, responded on June 13th, saying:
China has noticed that on June 12th, the European Commission released the preliminary ruling disclosure of the anti-subsidy investigation against Chinese electric vehicles, proposing to levy a provisional anti-subsidy tax on imported electric vehicles from China. The EU disregards the facts and WTO rules, ignores China's repeated strong opposition, and disregards the calls and dissuasions of many EU member states' governments and industries, and insists on going its own way. China is highly concerned and strongly dissatisfied, and the Chinese industry is deeply disappointed and firmly opposed.
The determinations in the EU's ruling disclosure lack factual and legal basis. The European Commission disregards the objective fact that the advantages of Chinese electric vehicles come from open competition, disregards WTO rules, disregards the comprehensive cooperation of Chinese-related enterprises in the relevant investigations, artificially constructs and exaggerates the so-called subsidy projects, abuses the available facts rule, and determines extremely high subsidy margins. It is blatant protectionist behavior, creates and escalates trade frictions, does the opposite of ensuring fair competition under the name of ensuring fair competition, and is the greatest unfairness. The EU's move not only damages the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese electric vehicle industry but also disrupts and distorts the global automotive industry chain and supply chain including the EU.
The European Commission holds up the banner of green development on one hand and wields the protectionist big stick on the other, politicizing and weaponizing economic and trade issues, which does not conform to the consensus spirit between Chinese and EU leaders on strengthening cooperation. It will affect the atmosphere of bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and the EU and is not conducive to the interests of EU consumers themselves and will also undermine the overall situation of the EU's own green transformation and global cooperation on addressing climate change.
On June 20th, a reporter asked: There is news that on June 18th, Chinese and EU new energy vehicle enterprises held a closed-door meeting at the Ministry of Commerce. At the meeting, both Chinese and EU automakers opposed the EU's tariff increase on China. Some enterprises also said that the European Commission asks enterprises for additional information during the investigat ion under the pretext of investigating, peeking into the technical insider information of Chinese technology. What is the spokesperson's comment on this?
Spokesperson He Yadong of the Ministry of Commerce said:
According to the enterprises, during the anti-subsidy investigation of Chinese electric vehicles by the European Commission, a large amount of information such as the production and operation, development plans, technical processes, and product formulas of Chinese electric vehicles and battery enterprises was demanded. For example, it requires Chinese enterprises to provide detailed battery composition and formulas, and also requires enterprises to provide the production cost of electric vehicles, piecemeal purchasing information of all electric vehicle parts and raw materials, sales channels and pricing methods, customer information in Europe, supply chain layout information, etc. The types, scopes, and quantities of information collected by the EU are unprecedented, far exceeding what is required for the anti-subsidy investigation. During the investigation process, the European Commission repeatedly stated that failure to cooperate would lead to unfavorable ruling results and forced enterprises to provide the above information. After Chinese enterprises did their best to cooperate and provide information, the European Commission still unjustly accused Chinese enterprises of not fully cooperating and ruled punitive high tax rates on enterprises. Chinese enterprises are very shocked and disappointed. The relevant practices of the EU lack a factual and legal basis, disregards WTO rules, undermines fair competition, and undermines global green transformation and open cooperation. China firmly opposes this and will take all necessary measures to firmly defend the legitimate rights of Chinese enterprises.