China Concerned About EU Customs Restrictions on Electric Cars

The European Union has been investigating Chinese electric vehicles since October 2023, suspecting Beijing of illegal trade practices.

“Global markets are currently flooded with cheap Chinese electric cars, whose prices are kept artificially low by huge government subsidies,” explained EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in September 2023. “This practice causes distortions in our marketplace. And just as we don’t accept them when they come from the inside, we don’t accept them from the outside either. So, I can announce to you today that the Commission will launch an anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles from China. Europe is open to competition, not a race for survival.”

The Brussels investigation aims to understand whether electric vehicle value chains in China are benefiting from illegal subsidies and whether such subsidies threaten to cause economic harm to European manufacturers. The investigation will conclude in November, but as of March 7, the European Commission began clearing imports of electric cars from China.

Meanwhile, there are rumors that the EU may start applying temporary duties as early as July.

A fact that Beijing doesn’t like and is actually pushing for exports to meet the oversupply of its industry. He Yadong of the Ministry of Commerce expressed “concerns about the special customs registration process in the EU for Chinese-made electric vehicles. These measures will only make normal trade in electric vehicles more difficult, hamper cooperation in the new sector, and damage the interests of EU consumers.” He said the growing number of Chinese electric cars arriving in Europe is nothing but a reflection of growing demand.