Countervailing duty — how the tariff on Chinese EVs works

This page describes the mechanism only. Whether a duty applies to a given car, at what rate, and how it lands in a local price list are national and time-dependent facts that belong on market pages with a source and a date, not in a glossary.

The mechanism has three parts. An investigation establishes whether a subsidy exists and whether it injures Union producers. A rate is then set — individually for exporters that cooperated with the investigation, and at a residual rate for those that did not. The duty is charged on import, in addition to the ordinary customs duty that applies to cars regardless of origin.

Why it matters when buying

Three consequences reach buyers, and all three are indirect.

Rates are set per company, not per country, so two Chinese brands can face very different charges on physically similar cars. A brand’s pricing behaviour in Europe often reflects its own rate rather than a market-wide condition.

The duty applies at import, so it does not apply to cars built inside the Union. That is the main commercial reason several Chinese manufacturers have moved assembly to European plants, and it is why the identification number of a specific car can matter more than its badge.

Finally, a duty is a cost to the importer, not a line on an invoice. Whether it is passed to the customer, absorbed, or offset by specification changes is a commercial decision that differs by brand and by market — which is why the only honest place to answer “what does this car cost here” is a local price list with a date on it.

Related: official importer · parallel import · VIN