Punitive tariffs on e-cars

How the new economic war is hurting Austria

Thanks to state subsidies, China's car companies such as BYD are pushing into Europe with low prices. Brussels has now reacted to protect EU manufacturers.

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

The EU and the USA are stepping up their fight with extra tariffs against the flood of cheap goods from China, which are entering the market at dumping prices. But globalization, from which Austria as an exporting country has benefited greatly to date, is also being rolled back in other ways.

Since July 1, the EU has been imposing extra tariffs of 17.4 percent to 37.6 percent on Chinese e-cars. For the time being, manufacturers such as BYD, SAIC and others only have to provide this "penalty" in the form of a guarantee and do not actually have to pay it, but at least they do. According to the EU Commission's accusation, Brussels wants to use this to compensate for dumping prices with which Chinese manufacturers can force their way into our market due to inadmissible state subsidies for the construction of their factories, subsidized energy costs, etc. For Austria, however, this is a double-edged sword ...