EU set to fix 38% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles
Semafor Signals: Global insights on today’s biggest stories.
European automakers have mixed feelings about tariffs
European EV manufacturers struggle to keep up with Chinese car makers, in part because the low costs of Chinese-built vehicles mean that European makers can’t make a profit. Tariffs on Chinese imported cars could “relevel the playing field,” Olof Gill, the EU Commission spokesperson for trade, told the Financial Times’ Tech Tonic podcast. But European automakers aren’t universally thrilled about the prospect of tariffs, the podcast noted: “German car companies make a lot of money in China, and the risk is an EU investigation into Chinese electric vehicles could lead to retaliation or even a trade war,” said FT journalist James Kynge.
Western manufacturers reining in plans
Despite US and European tariffs on Chinese vehicles, Western manufacturers seem to be coming to a realization: “China has won the contest for EV supremacy,” Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas recently said. American companies, including GM and Ford, have probably given up on being leaders in EVs given the high cost to consumers, the Australian auto outlet The Driven noted: “US and European car makers have shown that they can make very nice electric vehicles, but none of them are cheap.”
