“The goal” of the EU’s tariff hike on Chinese electric vehicles “is to foster a European EV industry” with state backing and support, but could wind up triggering a massive trade war unless both sides adopt to resolve the dispute, Francesco Sisci, a Beijing-based China expert and author, told Sputnik, commenting on last week's EU to raise duties on Chinese EVs by double digits. China and the bloc now have until October 30 to prevent the tariffs from being implemented. China's Chamber of Commerce to the EU the vote, calling the investigation by Brussels into subsidies on Chinese EVs which led to the tariff hike a "politically motivated and unjustified protectionist measure.
" The tariffs could affect of all Chinese EV exports. In the first eight months of 2024 alone, China delivered some $8.5 billion worth of electric vehicles to the EU, according to .
Belgium proved to be the bloc's biggest buyer, accounting for 55%, or €4.2 billion, of all deliveries. Germany came in second, accounting for 14% (€1.
08 billion), and Spain third with 12.5% (€965.23 million) of imports.
“Of course the Chinese can export their EVs to third countries and from there they could sneak cars back into Europe. But these loopholes could be closed and they could not affect the overall trend,” Sisci said, commenting on China’s predicament. The EU “is not backing down on this,” and that World Trade Organization-facilitated mediation “doesn’t work anymore,” requiring a “bilat.