The European Union and China have agreed to explore the possibility of introducing minimum prices for Chinese-made electric vehicles as an alternative to the tariffs the EU levied last year, a European Commission spokesperson said.
It is assuming that the negotiations were already underway.
There will be immediate initiation of negotiations, as stated by China’s Commerce Ministry.
Sefcovic has previously said that any minimum prices need to be as enforceable and effective as the EU tariffs.
The EU has already negotiated minimum prices for homogenous products instead of advanced products such as cars. A single minimum price, the Commission says, would not be enough to counteract damage caused by subsidies.
In October last year, the EU doubled the tariffs on Chinese-made EVs to 45.3%. However, Brussels and Beijing have also threatened to lift the levies by possibly agreeing to minimum prices, or price guarantees for imported cars.
Aside from the EU’s general car import tariff of 10%, the European Commission also announced that it is ready to proceed with negotiating a tariff-free alternative with China. The alternative consists of tariffs of 17.0% for cars produced by BYD (002594.SZ), 18.8% for Geely (GEELY.UL), and 35.3% for SAIC (600104.SS).
While U.S. President Donald Trump started a trade war with several of America’s closest trading partners, including the EU and China, negotiations to potentially achieve a truce over the long-standing feud, which also infuriated French cognac makers as Beijing retaliated with trade action, are ongoing.
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