EU plans Sept 25 vote on raising tariffs on EVs from China, Bloomberg

BRUSSELS: The European Union is aiming to hold a vote to introduce definitive tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China on Sept 25, Bloomberg News reported today, citing people familiar with the plan.

The European Commission is on the verge of proposing final tariffs of up to 35.3% on EVs built in China, on top of the EU's standard 10% car import duty.

On Thursday, the EU received offers from EV makers in China for minimum import prices into the union as a way of avoiding tariffs, but had rejected all of them.

The European Commission declined to comment on the Bloomberg report.

EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis will meet Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao next Thursday.

In July, EU imposed tariffs on imports of electric vehicles made in China by companies like BYD, Geely and SAIC.

In August, it cut planned tariff on Tesla's China-made EV imports to 9%, lower than what was indicated initially, and said some Chinese companies in joint ventures with EU automakers may also receive lower planned punitive duties on Chinese-made EV imports.

The proposed final duties will be subject to a vote by the EU's 27 members. They will be implemented by the end of October unless a qualified majority of 15 EU members representing 65% of the EU population votes against the levies.