The statement by European Commission President Urszula von der Leyen in her General Statements speech (13 September 2023) that the EU will launch an investigation into Chinese EVs that have been priced down through unjustified government subsidies was widely covered in the Japanese media.

Chinese-branded EVs are rapidly gaining share in the European market: their share of the EU EV market was 8% in 2022 and is expected to grow to 15% by 2025 EU authorities have analysed that Chinese-branded EVs are 20% less expensive than European-branded products due to Chinese government industry subsidies. The EU authorities have analysed that Chinese-branded EVs are priced 20% lower than European-branded products due to Chinese government subsidies. Investigations into anti-subsidy regulations typically take 13 months and depending on the outcome, additional tariffs will be imposed on Chinese EVs.

However, when combined with the fact that the statement was made after the closing of the Munich IAA Mobility (5-10 September 2023), where Chinese manufacturers had a strong presence, and the statement “derisking, not decoupling” in the general statement speech, it is clear that the EU does not want to provoke China too much. The EU does not want to provoke China too much.

The decision to launch an investigation this time is in the form of the EU giving in to the French Government’s request for additional tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, but in fact France has already proposed a revision of the EV purchase subsidy system for domestic use, with the exclusion of China in mind.