BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Monday that the deadline for Chinese electric vehicle makers to make price commitments as a way of averting tariffs had passed, with no possibility to revise their offers after they were all rejected.
The Commission, which is conducting an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese-built EVs, said several EV exporters had submitted price undertakings – a commitment by an exporter to respect minimum import prices in order to offset subsidies.
“The deadline for submitting such offers was the 24th of August and there is no possibility beyond that deadline to offer new price undertakings under the rules of this type of investigation,” a Commission spokesperson said on Monday.
The EU executive said it remained open to find a solution, as long as it was fully compatible with World Trade Organization rules and counteracted the subsidies identified.
All the price undertakings from Chinese automakers came on the Aug. 24 deadline, the spokesperson said, leaving no time for re-submissions after the offers were rejected.
“The Chinese automakers in question have had many weeks before the deadline to make this type of price undertaking. Had they done so at an earlier stage that would have allowed for meaningful engagement on the topic,” they said.
The Commission has proposed final tariffs of up to 35.3% on EVs built in China, on top of the EU’s standard 10% car import duty.
The EU’s 27 members are due to vote on the proposed final duties on Sept. 25. They will be implemented by the end of October unless a qualified majority of 15 EU members representing 65% of the EU population votes against the levies.
This is a high hurdle that is rarely reached, but this is a politically charged file, and threatened Chinese retaliation on pork and dairy products and brandy could sway some EU nations.
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao is in Europe this week for discussions on the EU’s anti-subsidy case and will meet EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis on Thursday.
Italy, the first stop on Wang’s trip, said it backed the proposed tariffs.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
