EU investigators to scrutinize Chinese carmakers BYD, Geely, and SAIC in electric car tariff probe

13 January 2024
European Commission investigators are set to scrutinize Chinese carmakers BYD, Geely, and SAIC in an unprecedented probe to determine whether punitive tariffs should be imposed to safeguard Europe's EV manufacturers.

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  • The Visitor

Zeke, 15 Jan 2024Rampant climate alarmism coupled with unrealistic and unsustainable energy policies (both at t... moreIt actually a good thing Germany closed its nuclear plants, given its propensity for tsunamis! :d /s
Hopefully this year's elections will lead to a change in the EC orientation.
If not and UvdL still remains in power the EU is dead in the near future.

  • The Visitor

Anonymous, 14 Jan 2024It's not as easy as you think. Yeah, for consumer It's best If It's as cheap as... moreCut all the green mess and anti-economic mumbo-jumbo the EU impose, reopen the coal plants and the EU products will no longer be "too expensive"! Half of the price is due to unreasonable high energy prices from idiotic green policies!

  • The Visitor

Lol, 14 Jan 2024Yeah super smart move "protect EU EV makers" while punishing the consumers lol. The ... moreOnly "sounds up" like Mafia? :D
The same organization that bought 4.5 BILLION vaccines for a 450 MILLION population?

  • Zeke

Anonymous, 14 Jan 2024It's not as easy as you think. Yeah, for consumer It's best If It's as cheap as... moreRampant climate alarmism coupled with unrealistic and unsustainable energy policies (both at the national and EU levels) are rapidly pricing European (specifically, German, as one of the principal manufacturing bases among EU member states) manufacturing out of the global market. One of the principal contributing factors to this is the spiraling cost of electricity, which has skyrocketed in recent years due to the unrealistic energy policy of the current ruling coalition. Those investigators coming and going will not change the significant and continually diverging difference in electricity prices between China (which is ramping up electricity production by every mean possible, including new coal powered plants, nuclear reactors, etc.) and e.g. Germany—which, in spite of having operated the safest, most well designed nuclear power plants in the world, hysterically started shutting down all of its plants following the Fukushima incident in 2011 (which notably did not result in any ARS-related casualties and is not expected (per WHO) to cause a discernible increase in cancer deaths), decommissioning its final six plants in 2023 in the middle of the escalating energy crisis and following the sabotage of the Russian LNG pipeline, which was the principal mechanism that had kept spiraling prices in check.

To be frank, calling the energy policy of the current ruling coalition exceedingly myopic and foolish doesn't even begin to describe the enormity of economic harm that it has caused and will continue to cause in the foreseeable future, as Germany continues to hemorrhage both individual talent (who are leaving a rapidly sinking ship) and medium to large size manufacturers, which are relocating their operations abroad in order to remain competitive (and in business).

BTW I mentioned Germany only, because a) that's the EU member state I happen to know most about (since I grew up there, but left over 30 years ago), and b) because it is (or at least was) the biggest manufacturing exporter in the EU.

  • Anonymous

Anonymous, 14 Jan 2024It's not as easy as you think. Yeah, for consumer It's best If It's as cheap as... more"Honestly, I think Europe is kinda at a dead end, we are no longer technologically at top and are too expensive to have a production base here."

You are absolutely right. Europe will pay a hefty price for this.

  • Anonymous

Anonymous, 14 Jan 2024"It creates dumping issue where local products will not sell because of higher price. Dum... more"Production in Europe is expensive and we no longer have technologic advantage to compensate for higher price and that's the real problem."

Yeah, both factors contribute here. China is closing the technology gap day by day, and it will soon be equal to EU but still because of China's economic practices, their EV's will be cheaper.
EU has lost the edge a long time ago.

  • Anonymous

Lol, 14 Jan 2024Yeah super smart move "protect EU EV makers" while punishing the consumers lol. The ... moreIt's not as easy as you think. Yeah, for consumer It's best If It's as cheap as possible, but losing our own manufacturers because they would go bankrupt is hardly a smart move.

Honestly, I think Europe is kinda at a dead end, we are no longer technologically at top and are too expensive to have a production base here.
Yeah, we can have a closed market, but then we won't be able to export anything because It would be too expensive for other markets.

  • Lol

Yeah super smart move "protect EU EV makers" while punishing the consumers lol. The EU sounds like mafia.

TBH, European manufacturers barely stayed afloat when ICE was the main concern, now they are trying to switch to EVs with their abysmal attempts to sell 5 yo platform for +50% price hike compared to ICE version.
I don't really love the idea of Chinese manufacturers to pretty much taking this market, but when you compare it to alternative - highly state subsidized EU EVs, with high prices, build on old platforms, with old tech, with unstable software, with low quality materials, with the same / or even worse problems regarding maintenance ... I am not so sure any restrictions would benefit customers or the market as a whole.

  • Anonymous

Anonymous, 14 Jan 2024Chinesse carmakers are building cars in factories in Russia, what we left.Not surprising. China didn't sever economic ties with Russia unlike European countries, so this will just deepen It. Russia will be more and more dependent on China, so this is also advantageous for China, because they will have access to raw materials from Russia.

We in European Union will be even more dependent on Persian Gulf's countries because Norway doesn't have enough oil or gas and will pray no conflict will start there, which would affect supply and prices.


  • Anonymous

Anonymous, 14 Jan 2024"Well, why is it bad when the government financially supports a company so it can offer i... more"It creates dumping issue where local products will not sell because of higher price. Dumping is done to sabotage the businesses at places where it is dumped and once local businesses close, there you get monopoly."

What you said is correct, but even If they didn't have some sort of benefit from their government, just the cheaper labor force would already make a difference in the price.
Production in Europe is expensive and we no longer have technologic advantage to compensate for higher price and that's the real problem.
If chinese cars were cheap but technologically behind then no one would care about dumping prices, because they wouldn't grab a big part of the market.

  • Anonymous

Chinesse carmakers are building cars in factories in Russia, what we left.

  • Anonymous

Anonymous, 14 Jan 2024Well, why is it bad when the government financially supports a company so it can offer its pro... more"Well, why is it bad when the government financially supports a company so it can offer its products for a customer-friendly price?"

It creates dumping issue where local products will not sell because of higher price. Dumping is done to sabotage the businesses at places where it is dumped and once local businesses close, there you get monopoly.



"If the EU wants to keep pace and stay competitive, then they should better start producing good EVs instead of bullying China.
They sent investigators as if China is their colony, how embarassing is that?"

Globalisation is a modern catchy word used by westerners for colonial mindset of them for trade. Bullying and sabotaging easterners is in DNA of westerners. They can't help themselves.

  • Anonymous

Anonymous, 13 Jan 2024The Chinese manufacturers are going to put a nice show for the inspections regardless of how b... moreWell, why is it bad when the government financially supports a company so it can offer its products for a customer-friendly price? Here in Germany, EVs are very expensive and only a few people buy them.
Moreover, Chinese companies like BYD have lower production costs because they produce most parts themselves etc. compared to German manufacturers.
If the EU wants to keep pace and stay competitive, then they should better start producing good EVs instead of bullying China.
They sent investigators as if China is their colony, how embarassing is that?
As if their opinion has weight.

  • Anonymous

The Chinese manufacturers are going to put a nice show for the inspections regardless of how bad things are. Face is everything in China, especially with companies and the government.

And if there was something they couldn't hide or cover up, well, they just won't be allowed to see it. I remember a certain location that remained off limits to an investigation stemming from a worldwide concern that happened back in '19.

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