At the beginning of this month, the European Union announced the launch of a countervailing investigation into Chinese electric vehicles. Recently, it has taken new actions. According to overseas media reports, on October 25 local time, the European Commission announced thatAfter sampling, three Chinese car companies, BYD, SAIC Motor and Geely Automobile, were selected to launch the anti-subsidy investigation..
It is understood that due to the large number of companies involved in the investigation, the EU finally chose a sampling method.
If the EU finds "evidence of subsidies" during its investigation, it will calculate the corresponding "average countervailing duty", which applies to all electric vehicles imported from China, not just Chinese brands.It also includes Volkswagen, Tesla, BMW, etc. produced in China.
Recently, it was reported that BMW received an "information request" from the European Union regarding its pure electric model iX3. BMW's chief financial officer revealed to reporters on the phone that BMW must complete the investigation within a week and provide the EU with detailed information on investment and production capacity of electric vehicles exported from China.
Of course, not everyone agrees with the EU investigation, and Oliver Blumer, chief executive officer of Germany's Volkswagen Group and Porsche Group, advised politicians to exercise caution when taking action against China's trade practices.
Blumer told an event in Stuttgart that "we stand for fair competition" but that protectionism should not arise from this because it would lead to more protectionism. In addition,Investigations into unfair trade practices should not be limited to subsidies received by Chinese suppliers but should cover all market participants.