The European Commission has warned three electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers from China that they did not provide enough information for its anti-subsidy investigation, sources who wished to remain anonymous told Reuters, reports Agerpres.
Chinese carsPhoto: Shutterstock
If the European Commission concludes that the information provided by the companies included in the sample – BYD, SAIC and Geely – is insufficient, it could use the evidence available from other sources to calculate customs duties on Chinese electric vehicles, a decision that would affect relations between Brussels and Beijing.
Warnings of this type are common in EU trade protection cases. In all 10 past anti-subsidy cases against China, for which restrictive measures are still in place, the European Commission has used such “available elements” to fill in certain gaps.
SAIC says it is “fully cooperating” with Brussels
The sources claim that the companies have the right to respond to the warnings. SAIC announced that it “fully cooperates” with the European Commission and provided all the necessary information, in accordance with the regulations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the EU.
“It is important to emphasize that commercially sensitive information – such as information about batteries – should not fall into this category,” SAIC said in a message on WeChat.
The company declined to comment when asked if Brussels had requested information about the batteries.
Geely representatives refused to comment, and BYD representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
The Chinese say the EU’s demands are excessive
The EU-China Chamber of Commerce says reports of non-cooperation are unfounded and the companies have responded to various questionnaires and facilitated on-site inspections.
Also informed the EU China Chamber of Commerce, some companies see the EU’s demands as excessive.
The European Commission launched an investigation into the Chinese electric vehicle industry in October. The investigation, scheduled to last 13 months, seeks to determine whether cheaper electric vehicles made in China unfairly benefit from state subsidies.
China denounced the investigation, which it described as “pure protectionism” and stressed that it would likely harm Sino-European trade relations.
