Greener Living
Europe Needs More Cheap EVs. Tariffs Will Keep Prices High
- New levies seen raising EV prices, slowing push for net zero
- EV outlook was already waning in big European markets, US
A production line of electric vehicles at a Volkswagen plant in Zwickau, Germany.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The European Union needs more and cheaper electric vehicles. Brussels’ decision to impose new tariffs on Chinese-made models will keep prices higher for longer, and act as a deterrent to sales.
The bloc waded into a messy battle over global EV trade on Wednesday, announcing that it will hike tariffs to as high as 48% on vehicles imported from China. In messaging that chimed with the case Washington has been making for months, the European Commission vowed to protect a mainstay industry from what it said were illegal subsidies.