Europe pushes ahead with China EV tariffs despite Germany’s objection
The European Union has voted to move forward with its plan to impose tariffs on electric cars imported from China, despite recent moves by Germany to attempt to block the proposal.
Chinese EV production has soared lately, as the country’s efforts to secure mineral contracts and build up its local auto manufacturing base have borne fruit.
Along with that drastic rise in EV production has come a rapid rise in EV sales within the country – and a rise of exports as well.
As those exports have hit international shores, audiences from Australia to Europe have found Chinese EVs as quite a reasonable value proposition when compared to domestic manufacturers, and sales have risen overseas as they have domestically.
This has been troubling for domestic European manufacturers, who have found it tough to keep up with the low prices that Chinese manufacturers are able to sell their cars at.
The EU has accused China of “flooding” its market with these EVs, and of unfair subsidy practices towards its local auto industry. (The EU also subsidizes EVs)
As a result of this, Europe decided to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs, with a sliding scale based on which manufacturers it deems most out of compliance with its investigations. Those numbers have been modified as negotiations have gone on, but have currently landed between 7.8% and 35.3%. This is notably much lower than the US tariff, which was recently raised from 25% to 100% and went into effect just a week ago.
Europe votes to impose tariffs, with German opposition
Today, the European Commission took a final vote to impose the tariffs. 10 member states supported the plan, 12 abstained, and 5 voted against, with the most significant opposition coming from the EU’s most populous country and the one with its largest auto industry, Germany.
While the initial vote passed easily with little opposition and many abstentions, including from Germany, the country changed its position and decided to oppose the tariff at today’s vote.
Germany had hoped to rally more nations to vote against the tariffs, but it was always going to be a high bar, requiring 15 countries and 65% of the EU population to overturn the previous vote. As of this week, it became apparent that Germany was never going to get there.
At first glance it seems incongruous that the country with the largest auto industry in Europe might oppose tariffs that are intended to protect the European auto industry. But the reason for this is because German automakers sell a lot of high-end and profitable vehicles to China, and fears retaliatory tariffs of the sort that often come up when countries erect trade barriers.
China specifically has been quite effective at targeting its retaliatory tariffs in the past. In response to trump-era tariffs, China enacted a 25% tariff on US goods in 2018 which, among other things, devastated the US soybean industry. China has already started investigating several EU product categories like brandy, dairy and pork products, and related European industry groups feel “abandoned” by their governments in face of this threat.
Beyond the threat of tariffs, Chinese consumers have been increasingly looking inward as well, abandoning foreign brands partially due to nationalistic sentiment as they feel that other countries have treated them unfairly.
So Germany sees how a Chinese tariff on European autos might hasten its decline in the world’s (just-recently-2nd) most populous country, cutting it off from 1.4 billion potential consumers.
Its vote against may have been tactical, though – an attempt to have their cake and eat it too. Germany may want the protective effects of a European tariff, allowing them to continue to sell to domestic buyers without being undercut by Chinese brands, but also want China to think that they were trying to stop the tariffs, thus lessening Beijing’s desire to retaliate against poor little Germany which did everything in its power to stop these tariffs.
European tariffs are also significantly lower than those recently imposed by the US, and Europe has been actively talking to Beijing and has modified tariff pricing and may modify it more going forward. This may be another tactical decision – by showing that it is more willing to work with China than the US is, and by setting a more “reasonable” tariff, the EU can portray itself as less extreme and thus less worthy of retaliation.
Electrek’s Take
If you’d like to read 3,300 words on what I think about this whole tariff idea, head on over to my article “Tariffs on China aren’t the way to win the EV arms race – getting serious on EVs is.” I promise you it’s a pretty good one. While the article is about the US tariff, much of it applies to Europe as well.
The fact is, tariffs are popular, but usually don’t work very well. We have a lot of examples of this happening, and while “most economists agree” should not be a silver bullet rule for interpreting the world, in this case, I think they’re generally right.
At best, I think these tariffs will offer a temporary reprieve to local manufacturers – which we have already seen they are more than willing to use to delay their plans and put themselves back into the exact same position they’re already in: behind.
Meanwhile, what it immediately does is increase prices for EU consumers, and reduce EU manufacturers’ desire or need to compete on price. In a time where every country around the world has recently struggled with inflation, making one of the things that households spend the most money on more expensive doesn’t seem too wise.
This will also make people less willing to replace gas guzzlers with newer, cheaper-to-run electric vehicles, which means not only sustained high fuel costs for those families, but sustained high climate and health costs from the increased climate change that comes from using those old vehicles.
So I just don’t see this as the smart choice. Germany eventually came around to the right decision here – but it could have exercised leadership earlier, instead of playing tactical games and trying to appear as if it’s on both sides.
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Locals call him the “Bicycle hero,” but Texas man Evan Wayne says he’s just doing what he can to help his community after it was cut off due to the recent devastating and deadly flooding tragedy.
When the local Sandy Creek flooded following torrential rains in Texas, it destroyed the only bridge into one community. Residents were cut off from access to supplies, including everything from necessities like food, water, and medicine to basic comforts.
Although the bridge was impassable to cars, volunteers who quickly organized to help the stranded residents found that the damaged bridge could still be traversed on foot. Or in the case of Evan Wayne, it could be covered by an electric bike.
Evan joined hundreds of volunteers who answered the call of grassroots organizers by working together without any official capacity. While many started by hand-pulling garden carts of supplies uphill to reach the stricken community, Evan jury-rigged a trailer to an e-bike and took on as much of the load as he could, helping shuttle much-needed food and gear into the community over hundreds of round-trip journeys.
“This was a dog trailer 48 hours ago. I had a hacksaw, hacked the top off, grabbed some bungee cords, and here we are,” explained Evan in an interview with CBS Austin, while waiting for the next load of gear to be stacked on his trailer.
In the first two days of the operation, he made around 100 round trips each day, shuttling food and water as well as critical rescue supplies. “Right now, I’m waiting on a couple of chainsaws that I’ll bring in for a crew that’s been going at it with handsaws so far.”
In addition to delivering needed supplies, Evan has often found himself moving something even more important: information. “I’ve flagged down medics. I’ve been the guy that goes between Austin EMT and STAR Flight because I’m quicker than cell phones sometimes, people don’t have signal a lot of the time.”
Evan quickly points out that he isn’t the only one helping. “I’ve got an e-bike, but other people are pulling carts. People are walking, people are carrying things. Everyone is doing what they can.” But there’s no doubt that his ability to carry more gear at higher speeds and make hundreds of round-trip journeys so far in and out of the stricken neighborhood has helped impact countless lives.
“This is all volunteers here. They’re just taking it upon themselves to get people where they need to go. I think there’s an umbrella company coming in, taking over tomorrow, but until they get here, people are just taking care of people, which is what you’ve got to do.”
E-bikes proving their worth in emergencies
While many people consider electric bicycles just another form of recreation, they’ve proven to be potent transportation alternatives after natural disasters worldwide.
Not only do their small and efficient batteries make performing hundreds of rescue trips like Evans’ possible, but recharging can be done simply and easily with a solar panel when electricity is out after a disaster. And when gas stations are out of fuel (or simply can’t pump it with the power grid down), e-bikes can keep running while gasoline-powered motorcycles or ATVs run dry.
Electric bicycle batteries have also proven to be a handy source of emergency power after hurricanes and other disasters, often helping owners keep their phones charged up for days to remain in contact with family or rescue services.
While most hope to never need theirs for emergency purposes, electric bicycles have proven their worth in countless disaster scenarios, adding benefits far beyond just alternative transportation, recreation, or fitness riding.
Image credits: CBS Austin (screenshots), used under fair use
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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies during a remote video hearing held by subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on “Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation” in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2021.
Handout | Via Reuters
Block jumped more than 5% on Monday, leading a rally in shares of fintech companies as analysts downplayed the threat of JPMorgan Chase’s reported plan to charge data aggregators for access to customer financial information.
The recovery followed steep declines on Friday, after Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan had circulated pricing sheets outlining potential fees for aggregators like Plaid and Yodlee, which connect fintech platforms to users’ bank data.
In a note to clients on Monday, Evercore ISI analysts said the potential new expenses were “far from a ‘business model-breaking’ cost increase.”
In addition to Block’s rise, PayPal climbed 3.5% on Monday after sliding Friday. Robinhood and Shift4 recorded modest gains.
Broader market momentum helped fuel some of the rebound. The Nasdaq closed at a record, and crypto rallied, with bitcoin climbing past $123,000. Ether, solana, and other altcoins also gained.
Evercore ISI’s analysts said that even if JPMorgan’s changes were implemented, the most immediate effect would be a slight bump in the cost of one-time account setups — perhaps 50 to 60 cents.
Morgan Stanley echoed that view, writing that any impact would be “negligible,” especially for large fintechs that rely more on debit, credit, or stored balances than bank account pulls for transactions.
PayPal doesn’t anticipate much short-term impact, according to a person with knowledge of the issue. The person, who asked not to be named in order to speak about private financial matters, noted that PayPal relies on aggregators primarily for account verification and already has long-term pricing contracts in place.
While smaller fintechs that depend heavily on automated clearing house (ACH) rails or Open Banking frameworks for onboarding and compliance may face real pressure if the fees take effect, analysts said the larger platforms are largely insulated.
WATCH: Congress moves to redraw $3.7 trillion crypto market rules, opening door to Wall Street
The global EV market is still charging ahead. According to new numbers from global research firm Rho Motion, 9.1 million EVs were sold worldwide in the first half of 2025, up 28% compared to the same period last year. But not every region is accelerating at the same pace.
China and Europe are doing the heavy lifting
More than half of the world’s EVs this year have been bought in China. That market hit 5.5 million sales in the first six months of 2025 – a 32% jump year-over-year. Around half of new cars bought in China are now electric.
While some Chinese cities’ subsidies have dried up, Rho Motion expects momentum to pick back up later in the year as more funding is released.
In Europe, 2 million EVs were sold in the first half of the year, up 26%. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales also rose 26%, thanks in part to affordable models like the Renault 4 (pictured) and 5 entering the market. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) weren’t far behind, growing 27% year-to-date. Chinese automakers are leaning into PHEVs as a way to work around the EU’s new tariffs on BEVs.
Spain is leading the pack with EV sales soaring 85% so far this year. Its generous MOVES III incentive program was extended in April and has kept sales strong. The UK and Germany are also seeing solid growth – 32% and 40%, respectively. France, however, is slumping. With subsidies cut, EV sales there have dropped 13%.
North America is stuck in the slow lane
Things aren’t looking quite as bright in North America. EV sales in the US, Canada, and Mexico are up just 3% so far this year.
Mexico is the one bright spot, with a 20% boost. The US is up 6%. But Canada is down a whopping 23%.
And things could get bumpier. On July 4, Trump signed Congress’s big bill into law, which axes all the Inflation Reduction Act EV tax credits. Those consumer credits for EVs now officially end on September 30.
Just over half of the EVs sold in the US this year qualified for those credits. Rho Motion predicts a rush in Q3 before the subsidies disappear – and a decline in sales after that.
Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said, “With Trump’s latest cuts in his ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ the US could struggle to see any growth in the EV market overall in 2025.”
Global EV sales snapshot, H1 2025 vs H1 2024
- Global: 9.1 million (+28%)
- China: 5.5 million (+32%)
- Europe: 2.0 million (+26%)
- North America: 0.9 million (+3%)
- Rest of world: 0.7 million (+40%)
Read more: China breaks records as global EV sales hit 7.2 million in 2025
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