It was one of the key announcements in the State of the Union address given by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Wednesday 13 September: the EU wants to protect its industry from low-cost Chinese vehicles flooding the single market, and is going to launch an anti-subsidy investigation against them. The Commission will have to publish a notice of commencement of the investigation before it can officially begin.
Once this has been completed, the Commission could decide to impose a countervailing duty on Chinese electric vehicles imported into the EU. The investigation should cover all battery-powered electric vehicles imported from China, regardless of whether the manufacturer is Chinese or not. In 2022, these imports will account for 8% of the EU market, but the Commission estimates that this figure could rise to 15% in the next two years.
“We need to be clear-eyed about the risks we face”, said the President of the European Commission. She added: “Europe is open to competition. Not for a race to the bottom”. The MEPs widely applauded her announcement.
France had pushed for the EU to take action against Chinese electric vehicles. The French Minister for the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, and the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Laurence Boone, welcomed the announcement. “We will not allow our market to be invaded by over-subsidised electric vehicles that threaten our businesses in the same way as solar panels”, said Ms Boone.
In her speech, Ms von der Leyen stressed the need to keep the lines of communication open with Beijing, and this is what she intends to do at the EU-China summit, which is due to be held before the end of the year.
For his part, the European Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, will be visiting China next week to discuss trade issues and economic challenges.
See Ms von der Leyen’s speech: https://aeur.eu/f/8it (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)