Greece sits out vote about extra tariffs on Chinese EV
Greece has reportedly abstained from a vote in the European Union on Friday about blocking the European Commission’s plans to impose higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), contributing to Brussels’ plan for levies on China’s EVs to proceed and start getting implemented as of next month.
The measure is therefore going ahead, as the European Commission announced. The move will possibly aggravate the trade friction between Brussels and Beijing, with the Chinese likely to impose reciprocation measures.
“Today, the European Commission’s proposal to impose definitive countervailing duties on imports of battery electric vehicles from China has obtained the necessary support from EU Member States for the adoption of tariffs. This represents another step toward the conclusion of the Commission’s anti-subsidy investigation,” said Brussels in a statement.
“In parallel, the EU and China continue to work hard to explore an alternative solution that would have to be fully WTO-compatible, adequate in addressing the injurious subsidization established by the Commission’s investigation, monitorable and enforceable,” it added.
“A Commission Implementing Regulation including the definitive findings in the investigation must be published in the Official Journal by October 30, at the latest,” for implementation as of November.
Greece was originally considered likely to vote in favor of the tariffs, but eventually chose to be one of the countries to abstain, reports suggest, practically giving its nod to the levies since it did not vote for the motion against them, as countries such as Germany and Hungary are reported to have done.
On top of the existing levies of 10%, the European Commission and countries spearheaded by France and Italy intend to impose considerable tariffs on Chinese-made EVs that reach up to 35.3%, on the grounds of the state subsidies Beijing allegedly offers to the Chinese automobile industry in a way that – according to the EU investigation on the matter – distorts competition internationally.
In the vote, 10 EU members backed tariffs and five voted against, with 12 abstentions, EU sources said.
Here’s how the EU members voted, a source close to the matter said:
In favor: Italy, France, Poland, Netherlands, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Denmark
Against: Germany, Hungary, Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia
Abstained: Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Finland.
