China says 'soft landing' on EV tariffs

China said it has found a “soft landing” with the European Union in their dispute over tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. (reuters.com) Commerce Minister Wang Wentao used that phrase in Beijing on April 28 during a meeting with Hildegard Müller, who heads Germany’s auto industry association, the VDA. He said China and the EU should implement the consensus already reached and asked the bloc to respect World Trade Organization rules. (reuters.com) The “soft landing” does not mean the tariffs vanished. The European Commission’s definitive countervailing duties on battery electric vehicles from China took effect on October 30, 2024, on top of the EU’s standard 10% car import tariff. (trade.ec.europa.eu) (eur-lex.europa.eu) Those extra duties vary by manufacturer, with the Commission setting company-specific rates after an anti-subsidy probe into Chinese state support for the electric-vehicle supply chain. The case became one of the biggest trade fights between Brussels and Beijing in the auto sector. (trade.ec.europa.eu) (eur-lex.europa.eu) What changed this year is the EU’s willingness to carve out narrow exceptions through price undertakings, a trade tool that swaps a tariff for a floor price and volume cap. On February 10, 2026, the Commission accepted such an arrangement for Volkswagen Anhui’s China-made Cupra Tavascan. (policy.trade.ec.europa.eu) That decision let the Tavascan enter the EU without the extra countervailing duty, as long as Volkswagen sells it at or above the agreed minimum import price and limits volumes. It was the first public sign that Brussels might manage the dispute model by model instead of only with blanket tariffs. (policy.trade.ec.europa.eu) Beijing has been pushing for that kind of arrangement because it preserves access to Europe while blunting the price shock from tariffs. Reuters reported that analysts see the talks as important for how aggressively Chinese brands can price electric cars in Europe as they expand overseas. (reuters.com) The dispute also matters beyond China’s own brands. European groups including Volkswagen build some electric models in China, so the tariff regime can hit EU companies importing their own vehicles back into Europe. (policy.trade.ec.europa.eu) (reuters.com) For now, the practical outcome is narrower than the rhetoric: the EU tariff system is still in force, but both sides are signaling they can live with negotiated exemptions. That is the “soft landing” China says it has reached. (reuters.com) (trade.ec.europa.eu)