EU Pressures UK to Match Its Tariffs on Chinese-Made Cars

The European Union is pressing the United Kingdom to raise tariffs on China-made electric vehicles so the UK’s customs stance more closely matches the bloc’s, the Financial Times reported, as cited by OilPrice.com. At the end of 2024 the European Commission secured enough support from member states to impose anti-subsidy duties on certain Chinese EV imports ranging from 7.8% to 35.3%. London has not followed suit, a divergence that worries EU officials. This policy gap has coincided with a surge in Chinese brands’ presence in the UK market: Chinese-made cars now account for more than 16% of the UK’s new vehicle sales this year, according to the report. EU officials fear that without comparable UK tariffs, the country could become a backdoor for Chinese vehicles entering the single market, undermining the bloc’s protective measures. At the same time, the UK is seeking to have some British products treated as part of a broader ‘made in Europe’ policy for certain sectors, including energy and chemicals, to preserve market access to the EU. The UK government has repeatedly ruled out rejoining the EU’s single market or customs union, creating a political dilemma between maintaining independent trade relations with China and aligning with the EU on strategic supply-chain rules. Auto industry executives have questioned the sustainability of divergent UK-EU trade policies if Britain wants its products to qualify as ‘European.’ Massimiliano Messina, Nissan’s regional chair for AMIEO, warned that the UK could become a distribution corridor for China-made EVs into the EU and said the country would need to adjust its tariff policy, the Financial Times reported. The dispute underscores broader post-Brexit tensions over regulatory alignment and trade strategy: the EU seeks protective measures against subsidized imports, while the UK is balancing market openness, industry access to EU markets, and its stated refusal to re-enter the EU’s customs structures.