EU votes to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

The European Union has voted to adopt final tariffs on battery electric vehicles made in China.

“Today, the European Commission’s proposal to impose final countervailing duties on imports of battery electric vehicles from China received the necessary support from EU member states to adopt the tariffs,” the EU said in a statement.

The EU first announced it would impose higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in June, on the grounds that they benefited “significantly from unfair subsidies” and posed a “threat of economic harm” to European electric vehicle producers.

The tariffs on individual companies were revealed, linked to their levels of cooperation and information they provided to the EU as part of the bloc’s investigation into electric vehicle production in China. The EU investigation began last year.

The provisional tariffs have been in place since early July. In September, the European Commission reviewed its tariff plans based on “reasonable comments on the provisional measures” from interested parties.