EU rejects Chinese proposals to avoid duties on EVs

BRUSSELS — The European Commission has rejected proposals made by China to set minimum prices or volume caps on imports of electric vehicles into the EU, spokesperson for Trade Olof Gill said on Thursday.

The decision deals a blow to Beijing’s desperate efforts to reach a negotiated solution with the EU to avoid imposing of hefty duties on made-in-China EVs after the bloc identified a sweeping subsidy program ranging from refining lithium to shipping the cars abroad.

Gill told a news conference that the Commission had reviewed the Chinese proposals — first reported by POLITICO — based on whether they “would eliminate the injurious effects of the subsidies identified in our investigation, and whether these price undertakings could be effectively monitored and enforced.”

“The Commission has concluded that none of the offers met these requirements,” Gill announced. The content of the offers is confidential.

In a final attempt to sway the EU, China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao will meet the bloc’s trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis on Sept. 19.

“We remain open to a negotiated solution,” Gill said, while stressing that any Chinese proposal should accord with World Trade Organization rules and address the subsidies.

Wang lands in Brussels days before representatives of EU countries will hold a formal vote, on Sept. 25, to cement the duties for five years. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain suggested on a visit to China this week that his government might reverse on its earlier opinion and vote against.

Gill refused to comment on Sánchez’ apparent change of heart. He also didn’t want to predict whether the Commission still has enough votes in favor. Under the bloc’s rules, a so-called qualified majority of 15 countries, representing 65 percent of the EU population, would need to vote against the duties to block them.

The duties range from 7.8 percent to 35.3 percent and are meant to cancel out the subsidies the Chinese government has lavished on electric vehicle makers.