The European Commission announced last week it had completed its anti-subsidy investigation and was imposing imposing definitive countervailing duties on imports of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from China for a period of five years.
The Commission's investigation concluded that the BEV value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidization which is causing threat of economic injury to European Union (EU) producers of BEVs.
The Commission said that sampled Chinese exporting producers will be subject to the following countervailing duties: BYD: 17.0%, Geely: 18.8%, and SAIC: 35.3%. The Commission also said that other cooperating companies would be subject to a duty of 20.7% while all other non-cooperating companies would have a duty of 35.3%.
Following the EU final decision China requested World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute consultations with the European Union. China claims the EU's determination appears to be inconsistent with various provisions of the WTO's Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. The request for consultations formally initiates a dispute in the WTO.
Canada and the United States are imposing surtaxes on imports of electric vehicles from China. Those measures are also being contested by China at the WTO.