BRUSSELS, Aug 21: The European Commission announced plans Tuesday to impose an extra nine-percent tariff on Tesla's China-made electric cars, much lower than what Chinese firms face unless Beijing compromises in a trade row.
Brussels last month slapped EVs imported from China with hefty provisional tariffs -- on top of current duties of 10 percent -- after an anti-subsidy probe found they were unfairly undermining European rivals.
On Tuesday the commission released a draft plan making the tariffs definitive, at slightly revised rates, subject to input from interested parties by end August, and to approval by EU member states by end October at the latest.
China's commerce ministry reiterated that it "firmly opposes" the tariffs, while voicing hope Brussels would work with Beijing "in a rational and pragmatic manner to avoid the escalation of trade frictions".
A European Commission official said the EU executive remained "open" to resolving the trade dispute without resorting to tariffs -- but that "it's very much up to China to come up with alternatives."
Beijing has so far filed an appeal against the measures with the World Trade Organization -- which Brussels has acknowledged while voicing confidence the tariffs are WTO-compatible.
The tariff rates faced by major Chinese manufacturers would be 17 percent for market leader BYD, tweaked down from 17.4 in the preliminary proposal; 19.3 percent for Geely, down from 19.9; and 36.3 percent for SAIC, down from 37.6. —AFP
