The European Union plans to impose tariffs of up to 36% for five years on imported Chinese electric cars, but remains open to an alternative proposed by Beijing, the European Commission said.

These tariffs, which will be on top of the 10% tax imposed on cars made in China, will be imposed by the end of October if approved by the 27 member states of the Union, unless an alternative agreement is reached by then with the Beijing. They will replace the temporary taxation that was decided at the beginning of July and reached 36%, clarified the Commission, which remains “open” to the dialogue and to any alternative that Beijing will propose to avoid the imposition of this taxation that is criticized by some member states such as Germany and Sweden.

The Commission also announced that will not collect the provisional taxes that have been imposed since July 5th. They will continue to be paid, but will remain blocked in a bank account before being refunded.

The new taxation will be definitively adopted by the end of October, unless a qualified majority of EU member states (15 countries representing 65% of the European population) oppose it.

At the forefront of petrol and diesel engines, the European car industry fears its factories will disappear if it fails to stem the expected flood of Chinese electric cars, an area where Beijing has a lead having long invested in battery manufacturing.

In the European Union, the electric car market is in full swing ahead of a 2035 ban on the sale of new combustion engine cars: Chinese electric cars account for 22% of the European market, up from 3% three years ago, according to sector estimates. Chinese brands account for 8% of the market.

The European Union plans to impose a 9% tax for five years on imports of Tesla electric cars made in China, significantly lower than other Chinese-made electric cars, since Tesla has received smaller subsidies from China.