SAIC says it will raise further defenses due to unreasonable and erroneous aspects of the European Commission's anti-subsidy investigation.

SAIC Motor Corp said will ask the European Union to hold a hearing on additional tariffs to defend its interests and those of its customers.

The Chinese auto giant said in a statement today that it will formally demand the European Commission to hold a hearing on the provisional countervailing duty measures on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) to exercise its right of defense.

The European Commission calculated a 38.1 percent subsidy rate for SAIC in its June 12 pre-disclosure, the company noted.

In response to the miscalculation in the pre-disclosure, SAIC promptly filed a defense, and the European Commission reduced the rate to 37.6 percent in its preliminary ruling published on July 4, it said.

SAIC said it would file further defenses due to the unreasonable and erroneous aspects of the European Commission's anti-subsidy investigation.

The investigation involves commercially sensitive information, such as requests for chemical formulations related to batteries, which is beyond the scope of a normal probe, SAIC said.

The European Commission made errors in its determination of subsidies, such as counting subsidies for new energy vehicle (NEV) purchases received by Chinese consumers as a subsidy rate for vehicles sold in the EU, the company said.

The European Commission ignored some of the information and defenses submitted by SAIC during the investigation and made adverse presumptions that inflated the subsidy rates for several items, it said.

In the past 10 years, SAIC has invested nearly RMB 150 billion ($20.6 billion) in R&D and has accumulated more than 26,000 valid patents, which is the fundamental reason why the MG brand is a best-seller in Europe, it said.

SAIC said it opposes artificial barriers to NEV trade and calls for a fair and competitive market order.

On October 4, 2023, the European Commission formally launched a countervailing investigation into imports of EVs originating in China.

On June 12, the European Commission pre-disclosed the level of provisional countervailing duties to be imposed on imports of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from China, with SAIC facing the highest of 38.1 percent.

On July 4, the European Commission announced that it would impose additional tariffs on EVs from China from July 5, at a slightly lower rate than previously announced, with SAIC rate at 37.6 percent.

These tariffs are in addition to the original 10 percent rate.

($1 = RMB 7.2686)

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