The European Commission has launched an investigation into the subsidies handed to Chinese carmakers by the state, warning of unfair competition against European manufacturers.
With many European car firms worried about being priced out of the market, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has today announced an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric cars.In her annual State of the European Union address, von der Leyen said: “Global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies.
What the probe will entail remains unclear, however, it could see levies imposed against Chinese electric cars to make the prices more closely aligned with European cars. Despite the warning, von der Leyen added: “But equally it’s vital to keep open lines of communication and dialogue in China, because there are topics where we can and have to cooperate. De-risk not decouple, this will be my approach with the Chinese leadership at the EU China summit later this year.