EU not close to deal with China on EV tariffs, officials say

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union and Chinese officials are discussing alternatives to European tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EV), including minimum prices at which such cars could be sold in Europe, but no solution is imminent, European officials said on Monday.

Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s trade committee, told a German broadcaster on Friday that an agreement between the 27-nation EU and China to replace the tariffs with something else was close.

But EU officials, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the talks with Beijing said this was not correct, because while the talks were continuing, there were still stumbling blocks that prevented a deal.

One of the options under consideration is to set a minimum price on electric cars imported from China to raise their price, which the EU concluded after a long investigation was artificially low because of Chinese state subsides.

To address the subsidies, the European Union last month raised tariffs on Chinese-built EVs to as much as 45.3% in its highest-profile trade investigation, a move that has divided Europe and triggered retaliation from Beijing.

China’s Chamber of Commerce to the EU at the time said it was profoundly disappointed by the “protectionist” and “arbitrary” EU measure.