China Files Additional WTO Complaint Over 'EU Electric Vehicle Tariff Bomb'

"Trade Protectionism Borrowing the Name of Subsidies" Backlash

China, opposing the European Union's (EU) decision to impose high tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, has filed an additional complaint against the EU with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding this matter.

A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce stated in a Q&A format posted on its website on the 4th, "China has filed a complaint with the WTO dispute settlement mechanism against the EU's final anti-subsidy measures on our electric vehicles."

China had already filed a complaint with the WTO over the EU's preliminary anti-subsidy measures on electric vehicles. Furthermore, on the 29th of last month (local time), China also filed a complaint with the WTO against the EU's confirmed countervailing duty decision. Earlier, the European Commission, the EU's executive body, announced on the 29th of last month that it had concluded to impose definitive countervailing duties on imports of Chinese electric vehicles for five years. As a result, an additional tariff of 7.8 to 35.3 percentage points was added to the existing general tariff rate of 10%, making the final tariff rate 17.8 to 45.3%.

Regarding this, the Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said, "China believes the EU's final anti-subsidy measures lack factual and legal basis and violate WTO rules. This is an abuse of trade remedy measures and trade protectionism disguised under the name of 'anti-subsidy'." The spokesperson urged, "We call on the EU to face its mistakes, immediately correct its illegal behavior, and jointly protect the stability of the global electric vehicle industry and supply chain, as well as the China-EU economic and trade cooperation as major partners."

China and the EU Commission have so far failed to find a breakthrough in eight rounds of negotiations but still keep the possibility of dialogue open. Bloomberg reported on the 30th of last month that the EU decided to send officials to Beijing to seek alternatives to the electric vehicle tariffs.