Personal anecdote. I have recently been in China, specifically Shenzhen and a couple of other southern megacities.

Let me tell you all something: China is getting ahead of us. Shenzhen used to be known for its smokestacks. It is now at least as pleasant as any European city. Not only does it have an excellent metro, loads of green space and trees, wide sidewalks and cycle lanes. It also has silent streets with shockingly clean air. And for a simple reason: all the buses, all the scooters and motorbikes, and at least 40% of the private cars (not very numerous because of the great transit) are electric.

Europeans might be surprised to discover what a difference this electrification makes to a city. From personal experience of both, I can tell you that (IMO) Chinese cities are putting Swiss ones in the shade. This should be a pretty shameful situation for the supposed quality-of-life superpower that Europe imagines itself to be.

Instead of punishing China for getting ahead in a technological battle that will benefit us all, Europe should be copying it.

Under the plan, the EU will apply five levels of tariffs. EV manufacturers that cooperated with Brussels investigators will face a tariff of 21%, while those who did not will be hit with the top tier of 38.1%.

SAIC faces the top tariff, Geely faces a tariff of 20%, while a 17.4% duty will be applied to BYD brands, which include the Dolphin and Seal cars launched in the EU last year.

It is understood that Tesla cooperated with the EU and may initially face the 21% tariff. The EU indicated this could be revised next month to its own individually calculated duty rate after assessing evidence submitted by the US company.

This is not about EV cars, but it is a perfect real-life example what happens if and when you pursue an economic policy like China's:

China solar panel manufacturers seek government action to halt freefall in prices

Chinese solar panel manufacturers said they are seeking immediate government intervention to curb investment and industry collaboration to arrest a plunge in prices of solar cells and modules, as the industry faces overcapacity.

Financial incentives and a government push have helped China become the solar panel factory of the world, accounting for about 80% of global module capacity. Analysts expect Chinese manufacturers to add up to 600 gigawatts (GW) this year, enough to meet global demand through 2032.

However, with no end in sight for the plunge in prices, industry officials and analysts said intense competition was threatening to drive smaller producers into bankruptcy. Rapid capacity additions drove down prices of China's finished solar panels by 42% last year.

[Edit typo.]

Why not put the tariffs on gas powered cars though?

Tariffs and moving away from free trade makes us all poorer. We need EVs to be cheap and abundant now more than ever. People complain it's "uncompetitive" when china subsidizes the shit out of their EV industry, but the US did the exact same thing with "build back better", and the EU got pissed about it. Just as the US has been doing for decades with agriculture and the defense industry.

I agree subsidies are contrary to the best methods of free trade but until we can force countries to stop (and stop doing it ourselves), they are a part of life. Let china win the EV race, we all get cheap abundant EVs, and America can win the space race and we'll all get cheap satellite services, and Europe can win idk whatever it is they're working on over there and we'll all get a bunch of cheap copies of that.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The EU has notified Beijing that it intends to impose tariffs of up to 38% on imports of Chinese electric vehicles, triggering duties of more than €2bn (£1.7bn) a year and a potential trade war with China.

The tariffs will be applied provisionally from next month in line with World Trade Organization rules, which give China four weeks to challenge any evidence the EU provides to justify the levies on imported EVs.

However, senior sources say that the question of EV dumping is also causing concern in non-EU member states and there is a determination to ensure that China cannot have global dominance in electric cars and other green tech products.

The subject is expected to come up at the G7 summit in Italy on Thursday with the EU hoping to persuade other leaders that the response to China’s overcapacity in cars, steel and other items including solar panels and electric vehicle batteries needs to be “targeted”.

Leaders gathering at the G7 are expected to raise the topic of small Chinese banks funding deals with Russia amid concern this is bolstering the Kremlin’s war effort.

Lin Jian told a press briefing in Beijing that politicians and industry representatives from many European countries had expressed opposition to Brussels on the matter of tariffs, in what could be a reference to Germany, which is concerned about counter-measures on its own car exports to China.

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