European Commission rejects Chinese EV price floor offer as tariff vote looms

Powerful EU members now urging commission to rethink punitive import duties, while Beijing continues to push for trade dispute resolution

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Influential EU members have been wavering on their support for an anti-subsidy inquiry into Chinese electric vehicles. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

Published: 8:37pm, 12 Sep 2024Updated: 9:09pm, 12 Sep 2024

The European Commission has rejected offers from Chinese exporters to put a price floor on their electric vehicle shipments amid intense wrangling over the highest-profile trade dispute between Brussels and Beijing in a decade.

Several Chinese exporters submitted offers for “price undertakings”, which were deemed to be incompatible with World Trade Organization and European Union rules, commission trade spokesman Olof Gill confirmed on Thursday.

“Our review focused on whether the offers would eliminate the injurious effects of subsidies and could be effectively monitored and enforced. The commission has concluded that none of the offers met these requirements,” Gill said at a media briefing in Brussels.

“The commission remains open to a negotiated solution, but it must fully comply with WTO rules and fully remedy the injurious effects of subsidies identified,” he said, adding that the ball was now in Beijing’s court to propose a counter offer that would tick those boxes.

The announcement came as the debate over EV tariffs reached fever pitch. The EU has complained that Chinese imports are too cheap as a result of industrial subsidies, and therefore create unfair competition for local models.

Powerful member states are now urging the commission to rethink the trade action, while Chinese officials continue to push for a negotiated resolution ahead of a crunch vote that would see the duties signed into law for a five-year period. The vote is expected to take place later this month.