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EU member states are set to vote Friday on imposing hefty tariffs on Chinese electric car imports, a move that could significantly impact the European market and potentially favor European car manufacturers.
The European Commission, in charge of EU trade policy, plans to levy additional duties of up to 36 percent on electric vehicles imported from China but the issue has divided the bloc. Brussels announced its plans in July for the tariffs -- on top of current duties of 10 percent -- after an anti-subsidy probe found Chinese state subsidies were unfairly undermining European competitors.
The tariffs would become definitive for five years after a vote by the EU's 27 member states that must take place before the end of October. That vote is now planned for October 4, EU diplomats said. One diplomat said the hope now was that talks "can continue after the adoption of the rates".
Eleventh-hour talks took place in Brussels when China's commerce minister Wang Wentao visited earlier this month but no solution was found to avoid duties.
The EU wants to level the playing field to protect its automotive industry, which provides jobs to around 14 million people in the bloc. Germany, and most recently Spain, have criticised the tariffs, which they fear could lead to a trade war with China, but EU states including France and Italy support them.
Beijing has already bared its teeth in anger at the duties, launching probes into European brandy, some dairy, and pork products imported into China. It also filed an appeal with the World Trade Organization over the tariffs last month. It is unlikely that enough EU states will vote against the tariffs to force the commission to reverse course.
At least 15 countries -- representing 65 percent of the EU population -- would need to oppose the tariffs to stop them becoming definitive.
Lewis Musonye
