China challenges EU tariff hike on electric cars at WTO

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - China has filed a case at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the EU's tariff hike on electric car imports, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday.

The EU Commission announced on Tuesday that its subsidy investigation into electric cars produced in China has been completed and that additional customs duties have been imposed on electric car imports from this country to the EU for five years.

With the new regulation, an additional tax of 7.8% will be imposed on US electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla's models produced in China, 17% on Chinese companies BYD, 18.8% on Geely, 20.7% on manufacturers cooperating in the investigation, and 35.3% on non-cooperative state-owned SAIC Motor and other companies.

The Chinese ministry said the EU's investigation into China's electric vehicles has many unreasonable and non-compliant aspects, and is a protectionist practice of unfair competition in the name of “fair competition."

China does not recognize or accept the results of the ruling, and has filed a lawsuit under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, the ministry said.