The European Commission has garnered enough support from member states in a vote to impose tariffs of up to 45% on electric cars imported from China. This move is seen as a significant step in the EU’s anti-subsidy investigations.
The EU’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations have elicited retaliation threats from the Chinese authorities, prompting investigations into EU imports of brandy, dairy products, and pork products this year.
In response to the dumping of cheap Chinese products, the EU has adopted a strategy of targeted actions. The EU is now taking more focused actions, scrutinizing subsidy cases of Chinese manufacturers.
Recent investigations by the EU into Chinese goods include the proposal of final tariff measures for the next five years following a year-long anti-subsidy investigation. On June 12, tariffs on imported Chinese electric cars were imposed, and on October 4, the proposal received necessary support from EU member states through a vote.
The 45% tariff will result in manufacturers spending billions of dollars extra when exporting cars produced in China to the EU, with the tariff set to take effect in November for a period of five years.
The EU is expected to announce specific regulations by October 30 to implement the tariffs. The EU has stated it will continue negotiations with China to seek alternative solutions.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU Commissioner for Competition, announced on April 9 that the EU was investigating subsidies provided by Chinese suppliers to Europe for wind turbines.
Vestager mentioned that the EU would conduct early investigations into Chinese involvement in wind energy projects in Spain, Greece, France, Romania, and Bulgaria.
WindEurope highlighted that Chinese-manufactured turbines are 50% cheaper than those made in Europe due to “unfair Chinese subsidies.”
While the EU has only taken preliminary measures, if evidence of unfair subsidies provided by the Chinese government is found, the EU has the authority to impose fines, suspend bidding processes, or even prevent acquisitions of companies by countries.
In April, the EU Commission began an investigation into Chinese procurement of medical equipment.
This investigation is the first conducted under the International Procurement Instrument of the EU, which aims to prevent unfair favoritism towards domestic suppliers by countries. European companies and governments have long criticized access issues in the Chinese market.
If the EU Commission finds that European suppliers cannot enter the Chinese market fairly, they may impose restrictions on Chinese medical device companies bidding in public tenders in the EU.
The investigation is expected to conclude within nine months, with the possibility of an extension by five months.
In February of this year, the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC), representing about 80 companies, urged the EU to urgently restrict Chinese access to the EU photovoltaic market to save their industry. However, the EU Commission stated that import restrictions could hinder the EU from achieving its goal of increasing solar power generation capacity from the current 263 gigawatts to 600 gigawatts by 2030.
In April, the EU launched two investigations to determine if Chinese mainland bidders in European public tenders were overly benefiting from subsidies. In May, following the withdrawal of Chinese companies, Longi Green Energy and Shanghai Electric, from a solar park public tender in Romania, the EU Commission ended the investigation.
On May 16, the EU Commission initiated an anti-dumping investigation into tinplate or tin-coated flat-rolled steel.
The investigation was launched following a complaint from the European Steel Association (Eurofer), which emphasized that EU steel production in 2023 was 126 million tons, the lowest on record, 25 million tons lower than the ten-year average of 150 million tons.
Low demand and cheap imports have eroded the profits of European steel manufacturers, leading to investment delays or halts. The association stated in a release that “a significant amount of steel production facilities in the EU are idle and potentially permanently closing, jeopardizing thousands of job opportunities.”
The EU’s anti-dumping investigation is expected to conclude within 14 months and may impose provisional tariffs within 7 to 8 months of the start of the investigation.
Following a complaint from the European Flooring Alliance, the EU Commission on May 16 initiated an anti-dumping investigation into imported wooden flooring.
The investigation targets pre-assembled multi-layer wooden flooring panels, with bamboo or at least the surface layer being bamboo excluded from the inquiry.