The European Commission has confirmed it will apply additional duties of up to 36.3% on imported electric vehicles made in China, as it issued draft definitive findings of its anti-subsidy investigation.
However it has cut its proposed tariff on imports of Tesla cars built in China, setting a rate of 9% instead of the 20.8% rate it had indicated in July.
In the highest profile European Union probe of alleged Chinese subsidies, the Commission issued draft definitive findings of its anti-subsidy investigation, which has provoked threats of retaliation from Beijing.
BYD faces an additional tariff of 17% while the tariff on Geely - which owns the Volvo and Polestar brands - has been set at 19.3%.
SAIC Group - which owns MG and has joint ventures in China with brands like Volkswagen and General Motors - will face tariffs of 36.3%.
The EU executive said today that it still believed Chinese EV production had benefited from extensive subsidies.
However the biggest tariffs it has set are still slightly lower than the maximum provisional duty of 37.6% the Commission had set in July for companies that did not cooperate with the EU's anti-subsidy investigation.
The tariff on Tesla's Chinese-made cars has been set at 9%, after the Commission said it had requested a recalculation of its rate to be based on the specific subsidies the company had received.
Tesla was among the companies classed as cooperating with the EU investigation.
The Commission said it conducted an investigation, including sending a team to Tesla facilities in China, to verify what subsidies the firm had received.
A Commission official said Brussels had concluded that Tesla receives less subsidies from China, compared to the Chinese EV producers Brussels had investigated.
Chinese business group calls tariffs 'unfair'
A group representing Chinese companies has said the European Commission's plan to slap import duties on Chinese electric cars was "unfair" and would worsen trade tensions.
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) "expresses its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the EC's protectionist approach," the group said in a statement.
"The EC's unfair use of trade tools to hinder free trade in electric vehicles, along with this protectionist approach, will ultimately weaken the resilience of the European electric vehicle industry," the group said.
"It will exacerbate trade tensions between China and the EU, sending a profoundly negative signal to global cooperation and green development," it warned.
A European Commission official said the EU executive remained "open" to resolving the dispute without resorting to tariffs - but that the ball was in China's camp to offer an alternative solution.
