On April 30th, a recent report suggests that the EU may need to impose tariffs as high as 55% on Chinese electric cars to effectively curb their imports.
Previous forecasts indicated the EU might impose tariffs ranging from 15% to 30% on Chinese electric cars. However, this report highlights that this tariff range may not be sufficient to counter the competition from China.
The report notes, "Even if tariffs reach the expected upper limit, some Chinese car manufacturers could still profit significantly from exporting cars to Europe due to their substantial cost advantages."
Researchers also suggest that imports of electric cars from non-Chinese companies could be affected by EU subsidy investigations. The 15% to 30% tariff levels could impact businesses of foreign companies like BMW or Tesla that transport cars from China to Europe for sales.
The EU could explore other measures to safeguard its electric car industry, such as restricting Chinese imports for national security reasons or increasing consumer subsidies for electric cars manufactured within the EU.
