According to a report by Reuters on August 20, the European Commission has released a draft of the final results of its investigation into Chinese electric vehicles and adjusted some of the proposed tariff rates.
A source familiar with the matter revealed that, under the European Commission's latest plan, Volkswagen Group's Cupra Tavascan model, produced in China under its SEAT brand, will be subject to a lower tariff rate of 21.3%.
Additionally, BMW Group stated in a statement that the EU has classified its joint venture in China, Spotlight Automotive Ltd., as a company cooperating with the sample investigation, making it eligible for the lower 21.3% tariff rate. Spotlight Automotive is a joint venture between BMW Group and Great Wall Motors, responsible for producing the all-electric MINI in China.
Previously, like the BMW electric MINI produced in China, Volkswagen Group's Cupra Tavascan model was not included in the EU's sample analysis and would have automatically been subject to the highest tariff rate of 37.6%. The lowering of these tariffs indicates that the EU has made an initial compromise on the issue of tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. German automakers exporting cars to China had strongly opposed the imposition of tariffs on imported vehicles from China.
In addition to Volkswagen and BMW, according to an MLex journalist, the EU has also significantly reduced the import tariff on Tesla's Chinese-made cars from the previously planned 20.8% to 9%, the lowest tariff rate among all automakers.
Furthermore, the temporary tariff rates for the three Chinese companies previously sampled by the EU will be slightly reduced: BYD's tariff rate will be lowered from 17.4% to 17%, Geely's from 19.9% to 19.3%, and SAIC's from 37.6% to 36.3%.
According to the EU's latest plan, companies cooperating with the EU's anti-subsidy investigation, such as Dongfeng Motor Group and NIO, will face a 21.3% tariff, while companies not cooperating will face a maximum tariff rate of 36.3%, which is still lower than the highest provisional tariff rate of 37.6% set in July.
