SAIC Motors, a major Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer and partner to both General Motors and Volkswagen, has been hit with a significant 36.3% additional tariff by the European Union. The EU imposed this hefty tariff after accusing the state-owned company of benefiting from “unfair subsidisation,” which allegedly harmed European competition. The tariff is a revision from a previous 37.6%, which SAIC contested earlier this year. This additional tariff comes on top of the existing 10% duty applied to all-electric vehicles imported from China.
In contrast, other prominent Chinese EV manufacturers faced lower tariffs. BYD, China’s largest EV producer, received a 17% tariff, while Geely, which owns Volvo, was assigned a 19.3% tariff. These companies had their tariffs slightly reduced last week. Tesla, which manufactures cars in China, was given the lowest tariff at 9%, primarily due to its limited reliance on Chinese subsidies.
SAIC’s harsher penalties stem from its failure to fully cooperate with EU authorities. The European Commission found SAIC’s responses to a critical questionnaire to be “highly deficient,” noting missing information related to production costs, supplier data, and related companies. SAIC argued that the EU’s data requirements were excessive, and the company reportedly struggled to access some of its suppliers’ information, compounding the issue.
This tariff highlights the EU’s increasing scrutiny of Chinese EV makers amid growing competition in the European market.
