The European Union said state-owned SAIC Motors, the Chinese partner of General Motors and Volkswagen, failed to cooperate with EU authorities and failed to provide them with the necessary documentation.
Last week, the company was hit with a 36.3% additional duty on its cars because the EU accused it of benefiting from “unfair subsidies” and undermining European competition. SAIC also manufactures the MG car brand.
The amount was a revision from an even higher tariff of 37.6%, which the Chinese electric car maker contested after it was set in June. The additional tariff will be applied in addition to the existing 10% duty that applies to all electric vehicles imported from China.
Compared to SAIC, China’s biggest EV maker BYD and Volvo’s parent Geely walked away with much lower tariffs. BYD, which temporarily dethroned Tesla as the world’s best-selling electric car company earlier this year, was hit with a 17% tariff, while Geely saw a 19.3% tariff. Both automakers saw small downward corrections last week.
Tesla, which also makes cars in China, received a 9% tariff because it benefits from fewer Chinese subsidies.
SAIC’s extremely harsh tariffs are the result of the company’s lack of cooperation with Brussels authorities. In a July report, the European Commission found that SAIC’s responses to a questionnaire were “severely deficient”, missing key information, including production costs, information related to purchases of key raw materials and related companies.
SAIC claimed that the bloc had asked them for too much information.
The company also faced internal challenges when responding to the EU.
The electric car maker did not have access to some of its own suppliers’ data and was not familiar with the required documentation, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the company.
SAIC representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
EU tariffs are a major headache for Chinese EV makers, who already face 100% US import tariffs.
Europe is an important market for Chinese players. In an August report, HSBC said Chinese automakers’ share of the European EV market could grow from just over 6% in 2023 to 10.5% by 2030 — and almost half of those sales could come from countries outside the EU.
The tariffs are part of a long-running diplomatic battle between the EU and China over trade, national security and overproduction.
The EU accuses China of encouraging overproduction in various industries, including the green sector, and of fueling Russia’s war against Ukraine. China claims the bloc is protectionist and trying to limit its economic development.