China to Continue WTO Spat Following EU's Definitive CV Duties on Chinese EVs

China said it will continue its challenge at the World Trade Organization against the EU's countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles. The nation's Ministry of Commerce said on Nov. 4 it believes the EU's duties "lack both factual and legal grounds," violate WTO rules and stand as a "pretext for trade protectionism," according to an unofficial translation.

China previously launched a WTO dispute against the EU's provisional CV duties, claiming that the duties violate Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (see 2408140010). Since filing the dispute, the EU finalized its duties on Chinese EVs despite a concerted effort from Beijing to quash the duties (see 2410290031).

The duties impose varying rates for individual Chinese EV makers, ranging from 7.8% to 35.3%. The initial WTO dispute from Beijing claimed that the EU committed three types of rule violations: procedural errors, inconsistencies related to the subsidization finding, and inconsistencies in the "determination of alleged injury and the causal relationship."