AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)11/01 Report--

On October 31, SAIC and Geely Holdings issued a statement refuting the rumor that they had never negotiated alone with the European Commission in response to the public controversy caused by the EU's imposition of tariffs on electric vehicles in China.

SAIC said in a statement: "recently, some media reported, citing the 'final countervailing investigation report' unilaterally disclosed by the European Union, that SAIC conducted price commitment negotiations with the European Commission alone. After SAIC's internal self-examination and communication with relevant state authorities, it was confirmed that the above reports seriously deviated from the facts and were pure rumors." SAIC stressed that SAIC has always been the main participant in the "price commitment plan" of the China Mechanical and Electrical Chamber of Commerce in the EU countervailing investigation case, and has never separately communicated and negotiated with the European Commission on the SAIC plan.

On the evening of the same day, Geely Holdings Group officially stated that Geely Group (including but not limited to its Volvo, smart and other brands) has always promoted the negotiation work under the guidance of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Mechanical and Electrical products (hereinafter referred to as the "Chamber of Commerce"). Geely submitted proposals to the Chamber of Electrical and Mechanical Commerce for the record, and never privately communicated and negotiated with the European Commission alone. From late September to mid-October, Geely participated in the consultation between the Mechanical and Electrical Chamber of Commerce and the European Commission on the industry plan in Brussels. During the consultations, the European Commission took the initiative to contact Geely's brands. Geely put the overall situation first and refused to communicate with the European Commission alone.

Geely Holdings Group stressed: "from beginning to end, Geely Group adheres to the principle of putting the overall situation first, unswervingly supports industry negotiations, and actively contributes to safeguarding the interests of the industry as a whole and promoting the negotiation process. In view of the distorted and slandered reports on the Internet, Geely will resolutely take legal measures to pursue the legal responsibility of relevant institutions and personnel in accordance with the law, so as to safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests and good image."

On October 29, local time, the European Commission (hereinafter referred to as "the European Commission") announced that it had concluded its countervailing investigation into imports of pure electric vehicles from China and decided to impose a final countervailing duty on pure electric vehicles imported from China for a period of five years. The final tariff will come into effect on the 31st. According to the final tariff given by the European Commission, the sampled Chinese export producers will be subject to different tariff rates, which are slightly adjusted compared with the previous temporary countervailing duty rate. Among them, SAIC was levied 35.3%, Geely 18.8% and BYD 17.0%; other cooperative companies were levied 20.7%; other non-cooperative companies were levied 35.3%; after making individual review requests, Tesla will be levied a tariff of 7.8%.

With regard to the final determination made by the European Commission, SAIC issued a statement on October 30: "this European Commission countervailing investigation involves commercially sensitive information, and there are errors in the identification of subsidies." and ignored some of the key information and defense opinions submitted by SAIC, falsely increasing the subsidy rate for a number of projects. SAIC deeply regrets the final decision of the European Commission and intends to take necessary legal measures to sue the case to the European Court of Justice to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. " In addition, SAIC said: "the EU will focus on imposing additional tariffs of up to 35.3% on SAIC pure electric models, which will push up the car purchase cost of European consumers and hinder the popularity of electric vehicles."

Prior to this, on October 28, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce responded to the EU's question of separately negotiating price commitments with relevant enterprises. With regard to the issue of "according to WTO rules, the European Commission has the right to negotiate price commitments with different enterprises participating in the investigation, and to negotiate price commitments with the China Mechanical and Electrical Chamber of Commerce, and does not exclude other enterprises from negotiating price commitments with the European side separately", a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said: "the Chinese side has made it clear that the China Mechanical and Electrical Chamber of Commerce has been fully authorized by different types of Chinese enterprises and has put forward a price commitment plan representing the overall position of the industry. On this basis, China and the EU have conducted many rounds of consultations, made painstaking efforts and made some progress. If the European side conducts separate price commitment negotiations with some enterprises while negotiating with the Chinese side, it will shake mutual trust, interfere with the overall negotiation process, and add more administrative costs to the follow-up implementation and supervision of the price commitment agreement. "

On October 29, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce also pointed out: "the European side said that it would continue to negotiate with China on the price commitment." China has always advocated the settlement of trade disputes through dialogue and consultation and has been doing its utmost to this end. At present, the technical teams of the two sides are conducting a new stage of consultations, hoping that the European side will work together with China in a constructive manner, take care of each other's core concerns in accordance with the principle of "pragmatism and balance", and reach a solution acceptable to both sides as soon as possible. avoid escalating trade frictions. "

On October 30, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said: "although the EU countervailing investigation on electric vehicles in China has been questioned and opposed by people from all walks of life in Central Europe, on October 29, 2024, the European Commission still issued regulations to impose final countervailing duty on new pure electric passenger vehicles originating in China, and decided to impose an additional countervailing duty of 7.8% on pure electric vehicles imported from China. And implemented on October 30 local time. The final result is not objective and is extremely unfair to Chinese automobile enterprises. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said that it is not acceptable and unacceptable. " The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers pointed out: "this countervailing investigation is a typical protectionist act under the cloak of compliance. The imposition of tariffs not only violates the basic principle of free trade and fair competition, but also is not conducive to China-EU automobile industry cooperation and green low-carbon transformation."

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat