- The EU has once again revised its tariffs on a select few EVs imported from China.
- Tesla’s tariff rate has reportedly been cut from 9 to 7.8 percent and Geely’s from 19.3 to 18.8 percent.
- Chinese officials say they’re keen to meet with their European counterparts to find a solution to the trade dispute that both sides can agree on.
The EU is reportedly making a second round of revisions to tariffs on cars imported from China, and the tweaks offer a tiny bit of good news for Tesla and Geely. But Chinese officials say they want to meet with their European counterparts to hash out a new deal that both sides can get behind.
Tesla’s tariff rate has been cut from 9 percent to 7.8 percent, having originally stood at 20.8 percent until the EU tweaked it last month following an appeal by the American automaker, Reuters reports.
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After further investigation on that occasion, the EU decided that Tesla didn’t receive as much Chinese state help as some other automakers, though it did benefit from discounted batteries. Reuters didn’t specify a reason for the latest tariff cut, saying only that the decision was based on new info provided by the companies.
The article also claims that Geely’s tariff, which was originally 19.9 percent, before being reduced to 19.3 percent last month, has now been shaved to 18.8 percent. BYD’s 17 percent tariff remains unchanged, according to the report, and cars from companies like MG’s owner SAIC, which the EU claims refused to cooperate with the investigation, face a 35.3 percent tariff, down from 36.6 percent.
Other automakers who did cooperate, including Chery and Nio, will endure 20.7 percent tariffs, and each of the duties comes on top of the regular 10 percent tariff placed on imported cars, meaning they could seriously harm an automaker’s profitability.
So it’s not a surprise to learn that Chinese officials now say they want to get around a table with their opposite numbers from the EU and hammer out a deal that’s amenable to both sides.
The same report adds that China’s Vice Commerce Minister Li Fei met with the European Commission’s director general this week where he made it clear that China was keen to get talks going.
“China is willing to continue to work closely with the European side to reach a solution that meets the common interests of both sides and is in line with WTO rules, so as to promote the healthy and stable development of China-EU economic and trade relations,” the ministry statement said on Tuesday, according to reports.