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

The European Union is urging the UK to raise tariffs on China-made cars that would bring its customs policy closer to the bloc's and remove some barriers to including British products in the "made in Europe" policy, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. At the end of 2024, the European Commission received enough support from the EU member states to impose tariffs ranging from 7.8% to 35.3% on imports of electric vehicles from China due to unfair subsidizing. The UK, which left the EU in the Brexit withdrawal, did not follow the EU's move with tariffs. This has boosted the market share of Chinese cars in the UK's total new vehicle sales to more than 16% this year. The EU fears that the UK could become a backdoor for Chinese products if it doesn't erect trade barriers for China's goods.