China-manufactured EVs hit with duties in biggest EU trade case yet
The Hindu
The European Union (EU) will impose tariffs of up to 37.6% from Friday on imports of electric vehicles (EVs) made in China, EU officials said, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing in Brussels’ largest trade case yet.
The European Union (EU) will impose tariffs of up to 37.6% from Friday on imports of electric vehicles (EVs) made in China, EU officials said, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing in Brussels’ largest trade case yet.
There is however a four-month window during which the tariffs are provisional and intensive talks are expected to continue between the two sides as Beijing threatens wide-ranging retaliation.
The European Commission’s provisional duties of between 17.4% and 37.6% without backdating are designed to prevent what its President Ursula von der Leyen has said is a threatened flood of cheap EVs built on State subsidies.
The rates, laid out in a 208-page document published on Thursday, are almost exactly the same as those announced by the Commission on June 12. The executive made slight adjustments after firms identified minor calculation errors in the initial disclosure.
Beijing said then it would take “all necessary measures” to safeguard China’s interests.
These could include retaliatory tariffs on exports to China of products such as cognac or pork.
EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said there is no basis for China to retaliate.
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Revenues from the seven-year old Goods and Services Tax had not lived up to expectations, having attained pre-GST levels only now, and the objective of a ‘Good and Simple Tax’ remains elusive, former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian said, terming the lack of critical data such as refunds a challenge.