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EU to assess punitive tariffs on Chinese electric cars

  • Straits Times, Brussels
  • 14 September, 2023 12:00 AM
  • Print news

The European Commission started an investigation on Wednesday into whether to impose tariffs to protect the European Union against Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports benefiting from state subsidies, reports the Straits Times .

“Global markets are now flooded with cheaper electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her annual address to the bloc’s parliament.

European carmakers have realised they have a fight on their hands to produce lower-cost electric vehicles and erase China’s lead in developing cheaper, more consumer-friendly models.