Europe risks trade war with China by hiking tariffs on its electric cars

The European Union has hiked tariffs on electric cars imported from China, drawing a rebuke from Beijing, which sees the bloc as a vital and growing market for its auto industry.

The European Union has hiked tariffs on electric cars imported from China, drawing a rebuke from Beijing, which sees the bloc as a vital and growing market for its auto industry. The increased duties will range from 17.4% to 38.1%, up from a flat rate of 10% previously, according to a statement from the European Commission. The provisional decision follows an investigation into China’s state support for electric vehicle makers. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, launched the probe in October to establish whether Chinese EV prices are artificially low because of subsidies and so hurt European carmakers. The Commission said its investigation had provisionally concluded that the EV industry in China “benefits from unfair subsidization, which is causing a threat of economic injury.” The sharp increase in tariffs highlights the more protective stance on trade with China that Brussels and Washington are adopting. Western officials are concerned that jobs and strategically important industries could be wiped out by cheap Chinese imports. The EU is also probing China’s support for wind turbine companies and solar panel suppliers. The Commission has applied differing levels of duties to three major EV makers. BYD — which jostles with Tesla (TSLA) for position as the world’s biggest seller of battery EVs — has the lowest duty at 17.1%.