BRUSSELS, Sept 30 Reuters The European Commission has told EU countries it will continue negotiations with China even after they vote on its proposal to impose final import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, sources familiar with the plans said.
The Commission, which is conducting an antisubsidy investigation into EVs made in China, has sent its proposal for final tariffs on such EVs to the EU39;s 27 members advocating levels that it calculated in September, the three sources said. It has set the vote for this Friday, they added.
At the same time, it included an additional text called a recital, stating that talks so far with China had not resolved the dispute over alleged Chinese subsidies, but that negotiations on a possible compromise could continue even if EU countries agree to the tariff rates.
The European Commission declined to comment.
China39;s commerce ministry said last Thursday that teams were negotiating a flexible pricecommitment scheme to avert tariffs. The Commission has said it could reexamine a price undertaking involving a minimum import price and typically a volume cap having previously rejected those offered by Chinese companies.
The proposed tariffs vary from 7.8 for Tesla EVs built in China to 35.3 for those of SAIC and other companies deemed not to have cooperated with the Commission39;s investigation. They are on top of the EU39;s standard 10 car import duty.
EU members are due to vote on Friday on whether to back final or definitive…