The European Union (EU) has decided to impose tariffs of up to 45.3% on electric vehicles imported from China.

The European Commission announced on the 29th (local time) that it has finally approved the tariff policy for Chinese electric vehicles and will apply it from October 30th.

Accordingly, an additional tariff of 7.8 to 35.3 percentage points (p) will be imposed on the existing general tariff rate of 10%, raising the final tariff to 17.8 to 45.3%. Tariffs are applied differently depending on the company or whether it cooperates with the EU investigation.

In the case of Tesla, the lowest tariff of 17.8% is applied. Although the manufacturing plant is in Shanghai, it is an American company. On the other hand, Shanghai Automobile is subject to a tariff of 45.3%.

The EU's tariff increase is due to China's injection of subsidies for electric vehicles. China quickly increased its market share in Europe by being able to export to Europe at low prices through subsidy benefits. China's electric vehicle market share in Europe increased from 1.9% in 2020 to 14.1% in the second quarter of 2024.

The European Commission conducted an investigation for a year before deciding to increase tariffs. In the process, the Chinese side proposed to set a ‘lower sales price’ and export instead of paying tariffs, but it did not come to fruition.

Meanwhile, China claims that raising tariffs on its electric vehicles is a “blatant act of protectionism.”

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