2023-09-22 12:44:06
The European Commissioner for the Internal Market has dampened the hopes of British and European car manufacturers, who were hoping for a postponement of the entry into force of post-Brexit customs duties next year.
European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton dampened the hopes of British and European car manufacturers, who want the entry into force of post-Brexit customs duties to be postponed until next year, in an interview with the Guardian published on Friday.
“What was negotiated was negotiated and I think it is very important to stick to a treaty when it has been so difficult to do so,” Breton said in comments reported by the British daily newspaper.
British carmakers were optimistic on Monday that a provision in the post-Brexit trade treaty with the EU might be delayed to come into force that might impose 10% tariffs on electric vehicles crossing the border. the Channel.
“The last thing you want to do is impose additional customs duties on vehicles that you encourage people to buy,” assured Mike Hawes, director general of the British automobile lobby (SMMT), at a conference of press.
“The automotive industry is not only made up of manufacturers, but also hundreds of thousands of companies that provide everything needed for a car, including battery suppliers,” insisted Mr. Breton on Friday.
A tightening of “rules of origin”
“This is a global supply chain” and “I have to look, as Commissioner for Industry, not just at one part of this ecosystem, but at the whole,” he added. , believing that each sector must be treated fairly.
A tightening of the “rules of origin” in the post-Brexit trade treaty with the EU must require from 2024 that at least 45% of the value of vehicle parts come from the EU or the United Kingdom for be exempt from customs duties.
However, batteries represent a substantial part of the price of electric vehicles and often come from China, despite the British government’s efforts to attract the establishment of mega-battery factories in the country.
While the United Kingdom is also an important market for European producers, the Financial Times indicated in early September that Berlin had joined London’s position and was pushing the European Commission to postpone the entry into force of these customs duties, citing sources close to the case.
At the same time, the EU announced last week the opening of an investigation into Chinese public subsidies for electric automobiles in the face of prices deemed “artificially low”, which might lead to a significant increase in customs duties on these cars.
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