Volvo Cars hopes for a better tariff rate for its China-made electric vehicle (EV) imports.
Volvo Cars is a Swedish company that is majority-owned by Geely, one of the top three automakers in China. Geely, along with SAIC and BYD, received an individual tariff rate under the European Commission’s proposal for additional tariffs on China-made EVs.
On October 4, 2024, the Commission’s proposal received enough votes from EU member states to impose tariffs on China-made EV imports for the next five years. Sweden abstained from the vote, hoping for a better solution with China.
“We have had very positive signals just recently from the Commission that they hopefully could go ahead with individual solutions for the auto industry and for Volvo Cars specifically. It is basically Sweden’s line that the best thing would be that China and the EU together can come to an agreement in relation to this problem,” said a Volvo Cars spokesperson.
As of August 2024, Geely’s tariff rate was 19.3% when the maximum rate was 36.3%. In September, the Commission considered decreasing the maximum tariff rate to 35.3%, suggesting that individual tariff rates would be adjusted accordingly. All tariff rates will be added to the 10% duty currently imposed on imports.
Besides Geely, SAIC, and BYD, Tesla China also received an individual tariff rate of 9%. Tesla requested an investigation on its Giga Shanghai operations to qualify for an individual tax rate. Tesla China’s tariff rate is expected to decrease to around 7% if the European Commission pushes through with its current plans.
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