The EU has voted to press ahead with hefty tariffs on China-made electric vehicles, laying the ground for what may become a trade war between two of the world's biggest economic regions.
The proposed “definitive countervailing duties” – which are up to 45 per cent, and are scheduled to go into effect from October 31 and will last for five years – were approved after the EU “obtained the necessary support” from its member states, the European Commission said in a statement on Friday.
The new tariff rates – which will be on top of the EU's standard 10 per cent car import duty – range from 7.8 per cent for Elon Musk's Tesla Motors to 35.3 per cent for SAIC and other Chinese EV makers that were found not to have co-operated with the EU's anti-subsidy investigation.
Ten EU members voted in favour of the tariffs, while five voted against and 12 abstained, according to reports quoting EU sources.
Germany, Europe's biggest economy, and its industry majors Volkswagen and BMW, are opposed to the tariffs. The car manufacturers said that it was “the wrong approach” and “a fatal signal for the European automotive industry”. The US-French-Italian group Stellantis reiterated its commitment to “free and fair competition”.
However, the EU and China will continue to “work hard to explore an alternative solution that would have to be fully WTO [World Trade Organisation]-compatible, adequate in addressing the injurious subsidisation established by the commission's investigation, monitorable and enforceable”, the commission added.
The Commission also said that it will not collect provisional duties dating back to July, when the EU first hit China-made EVs with up to 37.6 per cent of tariffs.
In the lead-up to Friday's decision, Beijing had urged the EU to delay implementing the tariffs until a compromise can been reached. China's Chamber of Commerce did not agree with the EU on what the former perceived to be “trade protectionism” measures, Chinese state media had reported.
Following the vote, China's Commerce Ministry hit out at the EU, calling the tariffs “unfair” and “unreasonable”. However, it acknowledged that they could still negotiate to resolve the issue.
“China firmly opposes the EU's draft final ruling, but has also noted the EU's political will to continue to resolve the issue through negotiations,” according to the ministry, adding that discussions with the EU are continuing and are scheduled to resume on Monday.
Beijing did not explicitly say it would retaliate; rather, it said it would “avoid escalation of trade frictions” through discussions. The ministry even offered what it called a “flexible price commitment” on the minimum pricing of vehicles the EU imports from China, to alleviate concerns that Chinese-made EVs would overrun the EU market.
However, China in August had already started anti-dumping investigation into certain EU exports, as well as an anti-subsidy investigation into EU dairy products. The EU launched a challenge to the dairy investigation at the WTO last week.
China's Commerce Ministry has also met with car makers and industry associations to discuss raising import duties on large-engine gasoline vehicles, which would hit German producers hardest.
Germany's exports of vehicles with engines of 2.5 litres or larger to China were worth $1.2 billion last year, Chinese customs data showed.
The EU believes China benefits from unfair subsidies after it formally began an investigation into Chinese EVs in October last year to determine if they breach anti-subsidy regulations.
An anti-subsidy investigation is initiated when the commission receives a valid complaint from an EU industry, providing sufficient prima facie evidence that a country is subsidising companies exporting a particular product to the EU and that this is causing injury to its industry.
The EU and China have conflicting views on this: the bloc wants to protect its own industry, while the world's second-largest economy sees this as selfish and counter to global trade rules, which are meant to promote fair competition, encourage economic development and prevent any related conflicts.
EU imports of EVs from China raced to $11.5 billion in 2023, from $1.6 billion in 2020 – a nearly 620 per cent surge that accounted for 37 per cent of all EV imports in the EU, latest data from New York-based research firm Rhodium Group shows.
In June, the commission announced it had provisionally concluded that the battery EV value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidies.
Chinese EV producers benefited from favourable terms, including the provision of preferential export insurance, income tax reductions and exemptions, dividend tax exemption, import and export tax rebates, value-added tax exemptions and rebates, and government provision of goods and services for less than adequate remuneration, the probe found.
“The investigation also examined the likely consequences and impact of measures on importers, users and consumers of BEVs in the EU,” the Commission had said.
“It is therefore foreseeable that the subsidised imports of the product concerned could continue to negatively affect the [EU] industry's economic situation.”
China is also facing fire from the US, after the Commerce Department last month proposed to ban the sale of internet-connected vehicles with Chinese and Russian software and hardware on American roads, which could affect consumers and US car makers, and possibly leading to higher prices.
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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Visa changes give families fresh hope
Foreign workers can sponsor family members based solely on their income
Male residents employed in the UAE can sponsor immediate family members, such as wife and children, subject to conditions that include a minimum salary of Dh 4,000 or Dh 3,000 plus accommodation.
Attested original marriage certificate, birth certificate of the child, ejari or rental contract, labour contract, salary certificate must be submitted to the government authorised typing centre to complete the sponsorship process
In Abu Dhabi, a woman can sponsor her husband and children if she holds a residence permit stating she is an engineer, teacher, doctor, nurse or any profession related to the medical sector and her monthly salary is at least Dh 10,000 or Dh 8,000 plus accommodation.
In Dubai, if a woman is not employed in the above categories she can get approval to sponsor her family if her monthly salary is more than Dh 10,000 and with a special permission from the Department of Naturalization and Residency Dubai.
To sponsor parents, a worker should earn Dh20,000 or Dh19,000 a month, plus a two-bedroom accommodation
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Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
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- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
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A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
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The five pillars of Islam
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
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Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
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Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace
Rating: 2/5