The European Commission (EC) has decided to delay its decision to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) until after the European Parliament election on June 9, according to a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. 

Since late last year, the EC has been investigating allegations of anti-competitive subsidies benefiting Chinese automakers.  Moreover, the decision of whether to impose provisional tariffs was initially supposed to be announced by June 5. In addition, the delay has occurred for this important decision due to the European Parliament election scheduled for June 6 to 9.

The new deadline for the decision is now set for June 10, which is a day after the European Parliament election according to Reuters. Furthermore, the change is suspected to be linked to a last-minute technical issue with the document, though this has not been confirmed by the EC.

Notably, in response to the EC’s investigation on Chinese EVs, spokespersons from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have urged the EC to end the inquiry due to it being “unreasonable” according to the Global Times. It is also important to note that Chinese automakers have since then planned to localized EV production including Magna Steyr reportedly stating that it has been in discussions with several Chinese automakers on that venture.  

With the fate of Chinese EVs on the line in the European market by the authority of the EC, Chinese automakers could potentially impose billions of dollars in additional costs depending on the EC’s decision to impose tariffs. As the deadline approaches, Chinese automakers and the European EV market will have to wait longer.

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