Europe Considers Lifting Tariffs On Chinese Cars In Favor Of Fixed Minimum Prices

The European Union and China may have just cast a death blow on Tesla in Europe as the two entities look into setting minimum prices for Chinese-made electric vehicles rather than using the high tariffs the EU imposed last year. In the past day, trade commissioners from both Europe and China have agreed to discuss setting minimum prices. Talks are slated to begin immediately.

This is nightmarish news for Tesla, a company whose European dominance has hinged on the fact that Chinese EVs haven't made it to the continent in meaningful numbers yet, according to Reuters. Last October, the EU increased tariffs on Chinese-built EVs up to 45.3%, but now they may be lifted in favor of possible commitments to minimum prices — also known as price undertakings for imported cars. As of right now, the European Commission has additional tariffs of 17% for vehicles made by BYD, 18.8% for Geelys and 35.3% for SAICs on top of the standard 10% duty paid on all imported vehicles.

This, of course, is all happening in the wake of Donald Trump's will-they-won't-they tariffs with the rest of the world that have hurt automakers globally — including Tesla. The Austin, Texas-based company really cannot afford any more bad news, either. Sales across Europe are down drastically with sales tanking in Germany by 62% according to our previous reporting. Overall, as of March, sales were down 43% for Tesla. If Musk's political antics keep up, I wouldn't be surprised if those numbers drop even further.

Pretty simply, this is also really good news for people who are fans of good cars. It's not a secret that part of the reason the U.S. and EU have such high tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles is because a lot of them are really damn good, in many cases far better than European or American models. If they were widely available at competitive prices in either region, they'd almost certainly outsell domestic EVs.

The biggest thing most prospective EV buyers worry about is charging and range anxiety. From the looks of it, the Chinese sort of have that figured out. BYD just launched two EVs with "Megawatt" charging capabilities, saying they'd be able to add about 250 miles of range in just five minutes. That's damn near faster than pumping your own gas. Sure, that's pretty gnarly on its own, but when you consider the fact that both the Han L and Tang L start at under the equivalent of $29,000, things get downright absurd.

There's nothing under the sun from Western automakers, whether it's Tesla, Ford or Mercedes-Benz, that can even touch that. That's why it would be such a huge win for consumers in Europe if they could get their hands on these cars. I doubt we'll see anything like this anytime soon in the U.S., especially as we continue to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world.