By Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union governments have given a divided view on the merits of EU tariffs on imports of China-built electric vehicles (EVs) in a non-binding but still influential vote, sources with knowledge of the vote said on Tuesday.
The European Commission, which oversees the bloc’s trade policy, has set provisional duties of up to 37.6% on EVs imported from China and has canvassed EU member views in a so-called advisory vote.
A dozen EU members voted in support of the tariffs, four voted against and 11 abstained, the sources said.
The Commission is expected to take this into account when deciding whether to follow up with definitive duties in what is the EU’s highest profile trade case yet.
France, Italy and Spain voted in favour, while Germany, Finland and Sweden abstained, government sources said.
A German source said that its abstention was in the spirit of “critical solidarity” with the Commission. Finland had doubts whether it was in the EU’s interests, given that not all European car manufacturers favoured measures, an embassy official said.
Swedish trade minister Johan Forssell said that dialogue between the Commission and China to find a solution would be very important. Beijing has threatened wide-ranging retaliation.
The Commission will continue its investigation for another three months and determine whether to propose definitive duties that would typically apply for five years.
If it does push for tariffs, they will come up for a binding vote among the EU members and would be blocked if a qualified majority of 15 member countries representing 65% of the EU population vote against.
In one sign of compromise, the European Commission has signalled that it may consider a lower tariff for BMW (ETR:)’s China-made electric Mini and Volkswagen (ETR:)’s Cupra Tavascan, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.