As the US government has now opted to introduce trade tariffs for electric vehicles from China, Europe is considering the same. Whether any of the efforts of the trade war will be beneficial to customers still remains to be seen, however.

The European Union will impose punitive tariffs on electric cars made in China before the summer break. Valdis Dombrovskis, the Brussels Commissioner for Trade, has indicated this to Politico, among others. After President Biden raised the US import tariff from 25 to 100 per cent and thus – intentionally or not – fulfilled one of Donald Trump’s demands, the EU is under pressure to act. Experts report that the existing tariff could rise from the current ten per cent to 25 to 30 per cent in the future. This would affect not only brands such as MG or BYD, but also other electric cars manufactured in China such as the Tesla Model 3, the BMW iX3 and the Dacia Spring.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had already given a harsh speech in September. According to von der Leyen, there is a threat of a flood of state-subsidised electric cars and thus an artificial distortion of the market to the disadvantage of domestic manufacturers.

An anti-subsidy investigation was subsequently initiated. Its deadline is on 4 July. It is likely that provisional measures will be announced before then.