The European Commission will postpone its decision on possible customs duties on Chinese electric vehicles beyond the June 9 European elections, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Wednesday, citing sources close to the matter.
These provisional customs duties, whose announcement was expected on June 5, should significantly increase the costs of Chinese electric cars sold in Europe and are contested in advance by Beijing.
Source of tension
The postponement of the announcement is intended to keep the issue, a source of trade tensions with China, out of the campaign for the June 9 elections, according to Der Spiegel.
The European Commission was not immediately available to comment on this information.
The European executive’s investigation into the subsidies that Chinese carmakers would benefit from Beijing opened on October 4 and could last 13 months.
After opening the investigation, the Commission has nine months to impose provisional customs duties.
Source: BFM TV
