EU rejects Chinese proposals to avoid duties on EVs

By Koen Verhelst | 09/12/2024 12:44 PM EDT

The offer of price floors or volume caps would not offset the injury caused by Chinese subsidies, the European Commission says.

BRUSSELS — The European Commission has rejected proposals made by China to set minimum prices or volume caps on imports of electric vehicles into the EU, said Olof Gill, a spokesperson for the Commission on trade, on Thursday.

The decision deals a blow to Beijing’s desperate efforts to reach a negotiated solution with the EU to avoid imposing of hefty duties on made-in-China EVs after the bloc identified a sweeping subsidy program ranging from refining lithium to shipping the cars abroad.

Gill told a news conference that the Commission had reviewed the Chinese proposals — first reported by POLITICO — based on whether they “would eliminate the injurious effects of the subsidies identified in our investigation, and whether these price undertakings could be effectively monitored and enforced.”

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“The Commission has concluded that none of the offers met these requirements,” Gill announced. The content of the offers is confidential.

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