The European Commission on June 12 provisionally set countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles, though there could still be changes before the provisional rates are posted, no later than July 4. The day after the publication, importers would need a guarantee to cover the amount of duties, but the duties themselves would not be collected until the definitive duties are set, which could be as much as four months later. If a majority of countries in the EU vote against the duties, they wouldn't be levied.
Although the U.S. and the EU have been collaborating more closely on technology export controls and supply chain due diligence laws, there are still “massive questions” about whether those controls will extend to more mature-node semiconductors and how new EU supply chain laws are going to affect companies doing business in Europe, said U.S.-EU trade and security consultant Frances Burwell.
Even if the EU decides against imposing higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in its ongoing countervailing duty probe (see 2310040012 and 2403150047), the bloc is likely to levy some sort of increased tariffs on Chinese EVs “in the future,” Taylor Wessing said in a June 3 client alert. The law firms said “observers believe” that the EU could raise those duties from the current 10-15% rate to about 30%.
World Trade Organization members last week agreed on chairpersons for 13 of the body's subsidiary committees for 2024, the WTO announced:
The EU on May 31 opened compliance proceedings against Colombia regarding the South American nation's alleged failure to comply with World Trade Organization rulings regarding its antidumping duties on frozen fries from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, the EU's Directorate-General for Trade announced.
The EU and Australia will implement recent World Trade Organization panel rulings that found the nations lost in their respective disputes, the countries said during the May 24 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. The EU dispute involved the bloc's measures on palm oil and biofuels from Malaysia, while Australia's dispute focused on Australian antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese imports.
China’s commerce ministry this week declined to confirm reports that it’s considering new import tariffs on European and American vehicles (see 2405220042) and instead continued to criticize U.S. and EU measures against Chinese electric cars.
A December executive order that gave the U.S. broader authority to sanction financial institutions involved in shipping goods to Russia has had a “meaningful impact” on Russia’s military industrial supply chains so far, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week.
China may consider raising import tariffs on cars from the EU, the U.S. and possibly elsewhere, the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said this week.
The U.S. hasn’t done enough to coordinate its China-related trade restrictions with U.S. allies, especially its semiconductor export controls, Craig Allen, head of the U.S.-China Business Council, told Biden administration officials this week.