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Comment by cromulent | Hacker News Reader

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cromulent·

It's not mentioned in the article, but the EU imposed tariffs on Chinese made EVs at the end of October.

Tesla had a 7.8% tariff imposed. BMW's are at 20.7%.

Most Teslas sold in the EU last year were imported from China.

Both companies are fighting it in court.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/27/tesla-tak...

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I'm very annoyed by this; if Europe is serious about the EV transition and the ban on new ICE sales, it should not be putting trade barriers in front of cheap EVs!

They're to protect Europe's car manufacturing industry, which is a significant industry which directly and indirectly employs a lot of people and circulates a lot of money. Part of that industry is green technology, which is exactly what Europe needs to build up. Europe has a challenge in that it wants to keep local manufacturing industries but also make sure that they are environmentally and socially responsible, which costs a lot more than other countries without those concerns and cheaper costs. I'm no fan of the ridiculous trade wars but totally free trade hasn't proved to be an outright success. I know the playing fields aren't level but I don't know what the sensible middle ground solution is.

I'd rather we tax foreign imports and give subsidies for locally-made EVs. Especially now that Europe seems to be on its own for the near future.

> BMW's are at 20.7%.

BYD?

17.0% for BYD.

https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/01/28/tesla-and-bmw-s...

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