The European Commission’s investigation into Chinese subsidies for electric vehicles is “advancing,” trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said hinting Brussels could impose tariffs “before the summer break”.

Brussels has been expected to impose provisional duties on imports of new battery-powered vehicles from China since it launched the blockbuster competition probe in October, amid claims massive Chinese state subsidies are artificially deflating prices to the detriment of European manufacturers.

The legal deadline for introducing provisional measures such as tariffs or quotas is July 4, nine months after the Commission began its investigation.

When Playbook asked Dombrovskis about the possibility of provisional measures, the executive vice president said: “One can expect next steps before the summer break.”

The Commission’s investigation — first flagged in President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the European Union speech in September, when she warned that global markets were being “flooded” with cheap Chinese electric cars — came after pressure from the French government for stronger European industrial defenses against Beijing’s fast-growing electric vehicle industry.

It prompted fury in China and stoked concerns of a wider trade war.

Asked if an announcement on provisional measures would be made before or after June’s European Parliament election, Dombrovskis was coy, saying he is not in a position to “pre-announce specific dates,” and that the legal framework is “setting certain timings which we’ll have to respect.”

POLITICO

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