China’s electric vehicle makers scramble for EU tariff deal, with price floor on the table

Chinese carmakers offering to set minimum prices and volume limits, but insiders say proposals are unlikely to convince Brussels

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The EU has complained that cheap, exported Chinese vehicles threaten the future of Europe’s car industry. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:00pm, 1 Sep 2024Updated: 9:55am, 27 Sep 2024

China’s car industry was scrambling to cut a last-minute deal with the European Commission last week, with representatives offering to set a minimum price on imported electric vehicles (EVs).

Companies would in return be granted some amnesty from hefty import tariffs due to be slapped on Chinese-made EVs by the commission by October. The EU has complained that cheap, exported Chinese vehicles threaten the future of Europe’s car industry.

The companies would also be willing to put a limit on the volume of EV exports to the European Union should Brussels cut the punitive tariff, according to people familiar with the meetings. Above that volume, imports would face the duties the commission proposed earlier this month of up to 36.3 per cent.

Online hearings took place on Wednesday, with car companies including BYD, Geely and SAIC, and Friday with the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME). The details of the proposals were first reported by Politico.

Such a deal would closely mirror one reached 11 years ago during a trade war over cheap Chinese solar panel imports. Under that agreement, Chinese producers agreed to set a minimum price at which their panels would be sold.

Panels sold at a higher rate or above a certain sales volume were subject to punitive import duties designed to bring the products in line with local market rates.