Nio says its commitment to Europe remains unwavering despite protectionism
“In Europe, Nio's commitment to the EV market remains unwavering, and we will continue to serve our users and explore new opportunities within Europe despite protectionism,” Nio said.
Nio (NYSE: NIO) said it strongly opposes additional tariffs in Europe and emphasized that its commitment to Europe remains unchanged after the European Union said a statement that it will begin imposing additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) next month.
“We strongly oppose the use of increased tariffs as a strategy to obstruct the normal global trade of electric vehicles,” Nio said when contacted by CnEVPost.
This approach hinders rather than promotes global environmental protection, emission reduction, and sustainable development, the company said.
Earlier today, the European Commission said it had preliminarily concluded that China's battery electric vehicle (BEV) value chain benefits from unfair subsidisation, which is causing a threat of economic injury to EU BEV producers.
The European Commission has pre-disclosed the level of provisional countervailing duties to be imposed on BEV imports from China.
These provisional countervailing duties will be introduced in the form of guarantees from July 4 if discussions with the Chinese authorities fail to reach an effective solution, according to a statement from the European Commission.
Nio said its commitment to Europe remains unchanged despite the new obstacles.
“In Europe, Nio's commitment to the EV market remains unwavering, and we will continue to serve our users and explore new opportunities within Europe despite protectionism,” Nio said in a statement shared with CnEVPost.
The company will closely monitor developments and make decisions that align with the best interests of its business, it said.
“As the ongoing investigation has yet to reach a conclusion, we remain hopeful for a solution,” Nio added.
The European Commission officially launched an anti-subsidy investigation into imports of EVs originating in China on October 4, 2023.
Any investigation should be concluded within a maximum of 13 months of its initiation, and the European Commission may publish provisional countervailing duties within nine months of its initiation, i.e. by July 4 at the latest.
Final measures should be implemented within four months of the imposition of provisional duties, according to the statement from the European Commission.
The provisional tariffs faced by different automakers vary; BYD, Geely, and SAIC, which were sampled and cooperated with the investigation, will be subject to additional tariffs of 17.4 percent, 20 percent, and 38.1 percent, respectively.
All other BEV producers that cooperated with the investigation but were not sampled will pay a weighted average duty of 21 percent. Nio falls into this category.
All other BEV producers in China which did not cooperate in the investigation would be subject to 38.1 percent residual duty.
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