Volvo Shifting EV Production To Belgium To Avoid China Tariffs

Volvo cars have started to shift production of Chinese-made electric vehicles to Belgium in the expectation that the European Union (EU) will drive ahead with a crackdown on Beijing-subsidized imports, the New York Times reported.

Volvo, which is majority-owned by China's Geely, was considering halting sales of Chinese-built EVs bound for Europe if tariffs were introduced. I Photo: Volvo UK Facebook

Volvo, which is majority-owned by China's Geely, was considering halting sales of Chinese-built EVs bound for Europe if tariffs were introduced, the newspaper said, citing company insiders.

However, the report added that shifting production of Volvo's EX30 and EX90 models from China to Belgium is expected to negate the need for the company to do so and that the company insisted suspending sales of EVs made in China was no longer being considered.

The manufacture of certain Volvo models bound for the United Kingdom could also be moved to Belgium, the Times said.

The European Commission (EC), which oversees trade policy in the 27-nation EU, launched an investigation last year into whether fully-electric cars manufactured in China were receiving distortive subsidies and warranted extra tariffs.

The anti-subsidy investigation, officially launched on Oct. 4, can last up to 13 months. The EC can impose provisional anti-subsidy duties nine months after the start of the probe, Reuters also reported.