..some lithium hodlers don't get it that a tariff hit on Chinese EV isn't beneficial to their interest - it would just mean that the cheaper China-made EVs which also include Tesla and European makes can't be bought by Europeans. And with EU auto makers being behind the curve in producing cheaper EV versions, that simply tantamounts to a denial of what would otherwise be a higher EV growth rate.
....so a higher EU tariff on China-made EVs will cause EV growth in EU to be lower and result in lower demand for lithium.
...all tariffs would be counterproductive to EV and lithium demand growth. The analysts have factored this pronouncedly in their recent downgrades.
The European Union moved ahead with plans to impose provisional tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China that would raise rates to as high as 48%, a step likely to escalate trade tensions with Beijing.
The EU confirmed Thursday that it would apply provisional duties on three Chinese manufacturers that were sampled for its anti-subsidy investigation. State-owned MG maker SAIC Motor Corp. faces a 37.6% tariff on top of the existing 10% rate, while Volvo Car AB parent Geely and BYD Co. will be hit with added charges of 19.9% and 17.4%, respectively.
Other EV producers in China that cooperated with the investigation but haven’t been sampled will be subject to a weighted average duty of 20.8%, while firms that didn’t cooperate will face a 37.6% top-up. Western carmakers such as Renault, BMW and Tesla are also affected, with the US manufacturer currently making up the bulk of EU-bound EV shipments from China.
The provisional duties will apply as of Friday, and definitive duties would kick in by November barring an alternative solution, or if a qualified majority of EU member states block the final move. The EU, which said that talks with China have intensified in recent weeks, concluded in its probe that China subsidizes its EV industry to a degree that causes economic harm to the bloc’s carmakers.
