Electric vehicle giant Tesla recently welcomed European Union inspectors in Gigafactory Shanghai in China, potentially leading to lower import duty than the 21% average.
Inspectors determine final tariffs for China-made Tesla EVs in Europe
According to Politico, EU inspectors went to Tesla Giga Shanghai to explore potential individual duty rates for the Musk-led automaker amid Europe’s protectionist measures against Chinese-made electric vehicles.
The report claimed that the European Commission set a visit to Giga Shanghai between June 26 and 28, even noting that the officials’ 3-day investigation at Tesla’s Chinese factory was shorter than the weeks they spent on other Chinese automakers during the probe.
For context, the European Commission’s proposed provisional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports officially took effect on July 5, 2024.
Tesla’s role in the EU probe
According to the European Commission document about its anti-subsidy investigation on China-made electric vehicle imports, Tesla requested inclusion in the sample.
However, the EU refused the American automaker’s request.
Three Chinese automakers sampled in the anti-subsidy probe, including BYD, Geely, and SAIC, received individual duties of 17.4%, 19.9%, and 37.6%, respectively.
Despite the European Commission’s refusal to include Tesla in the sample, the Musk-led company cooperated in trade proceedings with the Commission and Hearing Officer. As a result, it secured a lower duty of only 20.8%.
After declaring the new provisional tariff rates in June, the Commission stated that Tesla might receive an individually computed rate, like BYD, Geely, and SAIC.
That said, the recent visit of the European Union inspectors in Giga Shanghai could lead to lower tariffs for Tesla EVs than the 21% average set on electric automakers who cooperated with the investigation but were not sampled. Meanwhile, non-cooperating Chinese automakers will face an additional 37.6% tariff rate in the EU.
