On June 12, the European Union announced that it would impose countervailing duties on imports of electric vehicles from China on July 4.
In addition to the original 10% general import tariff, it is proposed to impose a tariff of 17.
4% on Chinese BYD cars, 20% on Geely and 38.
1% on SAIC.
All three manufacturers were sampled in the ongoing EU survey.
In addition, the EU also imposed a tariff of 38.
1 per cent on pure electric vehicle (BEV) manufacturers that did not cooperate with the survey, and a lower tariff of 21 per cent on automakers from Asian countries that complied with the survey but were not “sampled”.
, which means that the tariff rate faced by SAIC and other companies that do not cooperate with the investigation has increased to 48.
1%, while that of other enterprises is 27.
4% and 31%.
Meanwhile, the European Commission said that Tesla of Elon Musk owns a super factory in Shanghai and that Tesla had applied for a “separately calculated tariff rate in the final stage”.
The levy of a tariff of as much as 48.
1% is bound to seriously affect China’s electric vehicle exports.
Not long ago, an analysis released by the Kiel Institute for World Economics in Germany pointed out that if the EU levies a 20 per cent import tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles, the number of Chinese-made electric vehicles imported by the EU will be reduced by 1 per cent to about 125000, and the related trade losses will be as high as nearly 4 billion US dollars.
At the current ratio, the losses may be even greater.
■ picked up a rock and shot himself in the foot? In the past two years, Chinese new energy vehicle companies have regarded the European market as the largest export region, mainly because of European policy support for new energy vehicles and the strong performance of Europe’s new energy vehicle market.
superimposed on the improvement of China’s new energy vehicle industry chain, obvious scale advantages and other factors jointly promote more and more new energy vehicle companies to “go to sea” in Europe.
Sales of Chinese-branded cars accounted for 4 per cent of the European market in 2023 and are expected to reach 7 per cent by 2028, according to AlixPartners, a consultancy.
In October 2023, the European Commission officially launched a countervailing investigation into Chinese-made electric vehicles, which is expected to last no more than 13 months.
Within nine months of the start of the investigation, the European Commission has the power to take temporary relief measures, that is, to impose temporary tariffs.
The EU accuses Chinese car companies of unfairly benefiting from state subsidies and of dumping surplus products into Europe, hurting EU car industry companies as Chinese electric cars are exported to Europe and their market share is rising.
, Ling Ji, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, said recently that China’s “review” of the allegations made by the European side in the countervailing investigation found that many of the “subsidy” allegations put forward by the European side did not comply with the rules of the World Trade Organization.
Among several subsidies both in the European Union and China, the European Union has higher subsidies in some areas than China.
What is worth warning is that the European side investigates the situation of generalization and fictitious subsidies and applies “double standards” in the determination of subsidies, which the Chinese side firmly opposes.
It is reported that the price of electric cars in China is generally about 20% lower than that made in the European Union.
As for why it is so low, the Royal Elcano Institute of Spain points out that the real reason is that Chinese companies control the entire value chain from mining to vehicle sales, and this integration of the value chain is the real reason why Chinese-made electric cars are cheap.
In fact, since the European Commission launched the countervailing investigation, it has caused great controversy in all walks of life in Central Europe.
Overseas media say the EU’s decision to impose tariffs on Chinese imports of electric cars could have a far-reaching impact on European car companies, hurting not only their business in China, but also their cars imported from China.
German car companies will lose even more in China.
According to HSBC estimates, German carmakers rely heavily on sales in China, which accounts for 20-23% of their global profits.
Herbert Dis, former chief executive of Volkswagen, said recently that escalating trade frictions would exacerbate inflation and delay the electrification transition.
Recently, the growth of electric vehicle sales in Europe is slowing, and car companies, including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have adjusted their plans for the launch of new electric models.
According to data released by South Korean agency SNE Research, in the first four months of 2024, European sales of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles totaled 881000, although the number of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles increased by 8.
6% year-on-year, but the share of the global car market decreased by 2.
4% to 22.4%. 
, earlier, BMW Group CEO Chipze also said at the results meeting that “Europe’s auto industry does not need trade protection” and that the policy of imposing additional tariffs on Chinese electric cars would only “lift a stone and drop it on its own feet”.
In addition, Volkswagen CFO Antriz also said that [the policy] will only provide “a short respite” and that reducing costs is a necessary condition for staying competitive in the long run.
■ EU imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles may be significantly reduced, the tariff list, SAIC is the most “injured”.
This may be because it exports the largest number of cars to Europe.
In 2023, SAIC ranked first among Chinese auto brands in 13 European countries, delivering a total of 242900 vehicles.
The second and third places are Geely and BYD.
, as the main export market of China’s electric vehicles, the temporary tariff imposed by Europe will have a serious impact on China’s electric vehicle exports in the short term.
According to customs data, China exported 482000 pure electric passenger vehicles (including used cars) to the EU in 2023, accounting for 45.
1 per cent of China’s total electric vehicle exports.
According to industry forecasts, if the European Union levies a unified tariff of 21%, China’s exports of electric vehicles to Europe could be reduced by 30% in the short term.
In fact, China’s exports of pure electric passenger cars to Europe have declined since the European Union launched countervailing investigations and strengthened customs regulation.
From January to April 2024, China’s exports of all-electric passenger cars to Europe fell 8 per cent from a year earlier.
At the 2024 China Automotive Chongqing Forum, Deng Xiaodan, general manager of Ruilan Automotive’s overseas division, talked about what he saw during a visit to the European market in May-the serious accumulation of Chinese electric cars in European ports.
Deng Xiaodan said that the European and American markets are risky, car exports need to be prevented, and car companies should also make long-term planning and careful layout.
If they do not deal with it properly, they are likely to “make money last year, this year, and before next year.
“Lose all the money you earn.
Judging from the high tariff of 48.
1%, it is even worse for most Chinese new energy car companies that export to Europe.
In recent years, China’s automobile exports have continued to grow, with electric vehicles as the main force, but whether the growth trend can be sustained is uncertain.
A number of business people suggested that the export of fuel vehicles should not be ignored.
, Zeng Qinghong, chairman of GAC GROUP, also said that he has just returned from his inspection tour of Mexico and the United States, and fuel vehicles still account for the majority of the local market.
Chinese enterprises need to further improve the industrial chain related to fuel vehicles and enhance the overseas competitiveness of Chinese automobile products.
Shu Xueming, assistant to the general manager of Chery International, suggested that fuel vehicles are still the main force in the overseas market, and the pattern will not change fundamentally in the next five to ten years, with fuel vehicles accounting for at least 60% or 70% of the total.
If Chinese car companies want to make a difference in overseas markets, they can’t ignore the fuel car business.
At present it is not clear how China will respond to this situation.
There are rumors that China is considering imposing temporary tariffs on imported vehicles with large engines.
In addition to car trade, China is likely to impose tit-for-tat tariffs on European wine and dairy products and begin to investigate European brandy exports and impose corresponding tariffs.
■ increased tariffs, but welcomed investment to build factories.
Surprisingly, on the one hand, the EU increased tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars, and on the other, European countries rushed to introduce various incentives to attract Chinese car companies to build factories overseas, thereby competing for Chinese electric car factories and jobs.
It can be said that attracting Chinese car companies to invest in building factories is far more attractive than imposing tariffs on Chinese car companies.
After all, to build a factory in Europe, most of the raw materials used must be purchased from Europe, which is bound to lead to the development of a large number of downstream industries in Europe.
Chinese car companies also hope to continue to develop in Europe for a long time, and they plan to respond by building local factories.
For example, BYD announced in December 2023 that it would build a plant in Hungary, becoming one of the first major Chinese electric car manufacturers to have its own production facilities in Europe, producing electric vehicles for the European market.
Production will initially increase from 150000 cars a year to 300000.
, 
, it is reported that BYD’s second plant in Europe may also follow suit.
France, Italy and Germany are scrambling for BYD to settle down.
At the same time, Great Wall is also planning to build a car factory in Hungary, with the first European factory in Bisside, near Page, according to the German Economic Weekly.
Used to produce Euler models and Wei models.
There will be more and more similar investment cooperation.
In April, Chery formally signed a joint venture agreement with Spain’s Ebro-EV Motors in Barcelona.
The agreement will set up a new joint venture to develop new models including Chery and Ebro brands.
Chery is expected to benefit from Spain’s plans to launch 3.
7 billion euros in 2020 to attract electric car and battery factories.
, unlike BYD and Great Wall Motors, which chose to build factories from scratch in Hungary, Chery was able to start production and distribution more quickly by acquiring and revamping existing plants.
The plant, which will start production this year, is expected to produce 50, 000 cars a year on the new production line from 2027, and plans to increase annual production to 150000 by 2029.
In Poland, zero-running cars will produce zero-running T03 pure electric vehicles at the Stellantis plant in Tychy.
The acquisition of a 21 per cent stake in Zero gives Stellantis the exclusive right to produce, export and sell Zero products outside China for the first time for a traditional western carmaker.
According to another person familiar with the matter, SAIC plans to build two factories in Europe.
The first plant could announce as early as July that it will use kit assembly technology with a target annual production capacity of 50,000 vehicles.
The second plant in Europe will be built from scratch with an annual production capacity of up to 200000 vehicles.
Germany, Italy, Spain and Hungary are all on SAIC’s shortlist of sites, the source said.
On the way for Chinese car companies to “go out to sea”, there must be both scenery and waves.
Industry experts believe that when Chinese cars “go out”, they not only go out of the whole car, but really “go in” and become local corporate citizens.
we should follow the path done by Japanese and Korean companies at that time, open up various places, absorb more market energy and talent energy, and become a global system, so that the local area can not be separated from China.
(Wen / auto home Peng Fei), return to the home page of the first electric network >.
