Price commitment to replace countervailing tax China-EU electric car case to achieve a "soft landing"
A report on the progress of the consultation pressed the "reconciliation button" for the two-year China-EU electric vehicle trade dispute ". On January 12, 2026, the Ministry of Commerce issued a notice on the progress of the consultation on the China-EU electric vehicle case. China and the EU agreed that it is necessary to provide general guidance on price commitments to Chinese exporters exporting pure electric vehicles to the EU, so that Chinese exporters can Address related concerns in a more practical, targeted and WTO-compliant manner.
Negotiates key progress price commitment as core solution
In October 2023, the European Commission launched a countervailing investigation into Chinese-made electric vehicles. In October 2024, the European Union officially imposed a high countervailing duty on imported electric vehicles made in China. Since then, the two sides have restarted and promoted the price commitment related negotiations, and finally achieved the results of the current negotiations.
For this breakthrough, many people in the industry have expressed positive views. Fu Yuwu, honorary chairman of the Chinese Society of Automotive Engineering, believes that the results of this consultation first reflect the rational and pragmatic attitude of the two sides in resolving trade disputes under the WTO framework. Secondly, it also shows that in the context of anti-globalization, through serious and responsible negotiation and dialogue, appropriate solutions that are in line with the interests of both parties can be found. Again, "a crude and simple tariff war and artificial barriers of all kinds is not in the interests of the relevant parties. The cooperation between China and Europe on the import of electric vehicles is a good model for the handling of various international trade frictions and disputes."
"China's auto industry welcomes the change in attitude of the European side, which is a rational response to trade disputes." In the view of Sun Xiaohong, Secretary-General of the Automotive Internationalization Committee of the China Chamber of Commerce for Electrical and Mechanical Services, the European side will issue the ''Guiding Document on Submitting Price Commitment Applications'', which is a pragmatic and gratifying progress, in line with the previous consensus between China and Europe, and marks the countervailing of electric vehicles. An important breakthrough was made in tax negotiations.
Chen Huiqing, director of the legal service department of the China Chamber of Electrical and Mechanical Services, said that the price commitment application is equivalent to an alternative form of countervailing duty. If an agreement is reached, Chinese car companies will not have to pay tariffs to enter the EU market, but will instead meet the European requirements in terms of price and other aspects through price commitments.
"This in itself is a positive signal that the two sides are willing to resolve the issue through negotiation and through price commitments. Companies that can actually reach an agreement will benefit from it, so it will have a positive effect on companies and industries, including future cooperation between Chinese and European industries." Chen Huiqing said.
Good for China and Europe Enterprises to Develop Industrial Synergy Prospects
The results of the consultation, for the relevant enterprises in China and Europe is undoubtedly a huge positive.
The China Chamber of Commerce of Electrical and Mechanical Services believes that the proper settlement of the EU's countervailing case against China's electric vehicles is the general expectation of the upstream and downstream industries of China-EU electric vehicles, which will help promote the security and stability of the supply chain of China-EU related industrial chains, and maintain the overall situation of China-EU economic and trade cooperation and the rules-based International trade order. In the spirit of mutual respect and dialogue, China and the EU have successfully promoted the case to achieve a "soft landing" after many rounds of consultations ". The China Chamber of Commerce of Electrical and Mechanical Services encourages and supports the enterprises involved in the case to make full use of the results of the consultation and strive for their own export rights to Europe by means of price commitment application, so as to promote the healthy development of China EU related industrial cooperation.
"The proper resolution of the electric vehicle case will significantly boost market confidence, create a more stable and predictable environment for Chinese electric vehicle and related industrial chain companies to invest and operate in Europe, and help promote the market expansion and technology of the China-EU electric vehicle industry. Deepen cooperation in areas such as innovation and inject new impetus into the green transformation and industrial coordinated development of China and Europe and the world." The EU-China Chamber of Commerce emphasized that the competitiveness of China's electric vehicle industry comes from continuous technological innovation, as well as cost and scale advantages formed in full market competition, rather than relying on subsidies. The Chamber of Commerce is willing to continue to actively play its role as a bridge and link, support Chinese and European enterprises to carry out higher-level and more constructive mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation on the basis of this positive result, and promote the stability and long-term development of China-EU economic, trade and investment relations.
"The outcome of the China-EU consultations to replace high tariffs with price commitments is an important breakthrough for both sides to achieve a pragmatic win-win situation. This mechanism retains the core access channel to the EU market for Chinese electric vehicles, avoids the impact of high tariffs, stabilizes the basis for market access and stabilizes industry expectations." Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said that in 2025, the share of Chinese brands in the European electric vehicle market has exceeded 10%, and Chinese independent brand companies are growing rapidly in the EU. This achievement will further consolidate this momentum. At the same time, price constraints will force enterprises to bid farewell to low-price competition, accelerate the transformation of high-end and European localized production layout. In the short term, the head car companies will dominate the market by virtue of their technology and scale advantages; in the long term, the synergy between China and Europe in the industrial chain and technical standards will promote the average annual growth rate of Chinese electric vehicles in the EU of about 20%, providing an example for the settlement of global trade disputes.
Source: China Industrial News Network
