Car parked at Tesla dealership. Automaker Tesla released business data for the last quarter after deliveries fell.
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The European Union said on Tuesday it planned to lower tariffs on Tesla cars imported from China from 20.8% to 9%, and also lowered multiple planned import tariffs on other Chinese electric vehicle companies.
In June, the EU said it would impose higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports. The EU found that Chinese electric vehicles “have benefited significantly from unfair subsidies” and posed a “threat of economic harm” to European electric vehicle manufacturers.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive agency, announced its preliminary conclusion that China’s pure electric vehicle value chain “benefits from unfair subsidies” and stated that it is in the interests of the EU to impose “temporary countervailing duties” on the import of pure electric vehicles.
The European Commission on Tuesday disclosed its draft decision on “imposing explicit countervailing duties on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) imported from China.”
The regulator said it would make “minor adjustments to the proposed rates based on actual comments on the interim measures” after receiving comments from interested parties on its planned tariffs.
Tesla’s electric vehicles produced in China will now face a 9% import tariff from the EU. This is lower than the 20.8% expected rate announced by the EU in its decision earlier in July.
The EU said it decided to give Tesla lower individual tariffs as a Chinese exporter.
It comes after the maker of Elon Musk’s electric cars made a “real request” to the EU to recalculate planned tariffs on its China-made electric cars to reflect the specific subsidies the company receives in China.
The tariff rate for BYD, the electric vehicle company backed by Warren Buffett, fell from 17.4% to 17%; Geely increased from 19.9% to 19.3%, and SAIC increased from 37.6% to 36.3%.
The European Commission said that other companies that cooperate with the EU’s investigation into China’s high subsidies for electric vehicles will face a 21.3% tariff. This is higher than the 20.8% tax rate faced by cooperative companies in the EU’s previous decision in July.
Those who do not cooperate will be charged an import tariff of 36.3%. This is down from 37.6% previously.
—CNBC’s Sophie Kiderlin contributed to this article.
