European Union in Talks to End Tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles

The moves come as the Trump administration increases tariffs across the world with a growing focus on China.

A worker inspects a vehicle's charging system in Hefei, China, on Jan. 17, 2025. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—As President Donald Trump reshapes the United States’ posture on trade, other global players may be opening up new frontiers with each other.

The German newspaper Handelsblatt reports that European Union tariffs on China’s electric vehicles could soon be eliminated as an outcome of new negotiations between the two.

Wang Wentao, China’s minister of commerce, spoke with EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic in late March during Sefcovic’s trip to Beijing.

The European Commission’s summary of Sefcovic’s talks with Chinese officials, which also included meetings with a vice premier and the customs minister, states that they touched on “investments in [the] electric vehicles supply chain.”

“They agreed to have a dialogue covering all trade and investment issues related to the electric vehicles supply chain, in order to ensure they provide greater contribution to long-term European competitiveness and quality jobs,” the summary reads.

Chinese electric vehicle exports to Europe have surged in recent years.

In October 2024, member states of the EU voted to tariff those vehicles following an investigation by the European Commission.

Under President Joe Biden, the United States established a 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles.

In 2024, the EU ran a trade deficit with China of more than 300 billion euros, equivalent to almost $340 billion.

The German media outlet Handelsblatt reported on April 10 that the March meetings between Wang and Sefcovic opened negotiations over ending the EU’s electric vehicle tariffs.

The news comes days after an April 7 phone call between Chinese Premier Li Qiang and EU leader Ursula von der Leyen.

A European Commission summary of that call, which took place before Trump announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs for countries aside from China, accused the American trade measures against the EU, China, and other countries of being a source of “widespread disruption.”

On her call with Qiang, von der Leyen “recalled the urgency for structural solutions to rebalance the bilateral trade relationship and ensure better access for European businesses, products and services to the Chinese market,” according to the summary.

After Trump announced the pause on April 9, von der Leyen wrote on social media platform X that “we want to give negotiations a chance.”

“If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in,” she said.

That pause will last 90 days as well.

Alongside news of the pause, Trump announced that China, which has retaliated to the new tariffs, would face an even steeper rate, rising from 104 percent to 125 percent. The White House confirmed on April 10 that tariffs on Chinese goods now reached 145 percent after taking into account the 20 percent previously imposed as a way to combat fentanyl exports from China.