Italian auto suppliers lobby urges EU for 80% tariff on Chinese cars, parts – “respect has now turned into fear”

The head of Italian auto suppliers lobby Anfia has urged the European Union (EU) to impose 80% tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles and parts above a certain threshold to safeguard Europe’s ​car industry, Reuters reports.

“We have ​maximum respect for what the Chinese industry has achieved, but that respect has now turned into fear. Europe cannot lose an industry which is essential for its ⁠strategic autonomy,” Anfia president Roberto Vavassori told the news agency.

He said that Chinese imports to the EU should be tariff-free up to 8% of annual European vehicle registrations, but with an 80% tariff on imports above that limit. He added that it should cover both vehicles and components, as parts make up roughly 80% of a vehicle’s value.

The EU imposes additional duties on Chinese-made EVs on top of its standard 10% car import tariff, with the combined tariff burden ranging from 18-45% depending ​on the manufacturer. Introduced in 2024, these measures will remain in force for five years.

Interestingly, Vavassori called Chinese carmakers’ European plants “screwdriver factories”, saying that the likes of BYD and Chery have little interest in local sourcing and that he expects them to keep importing most components from China or low-cost countries close to Europe.

The Anfia boss said Italian auto suppliers exported 4.9 billion euros (RM23 billion) worth of products to Germany last year, a fifth of which was for Volkswagen.

He expects exports to fall around 10% this year after dropping 4.6% in the first half, and considering VW’s massive restructuring, could plummet by 40-50% by 2028 without protection from Chinese imports. “That would be indeed the end of the story,” he said.

Vavassori also criticised the EU’s proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, saying ​it could encourage imports from countries like Morocco or Turkey linked to ​the EU through ⁠free-trade agreements instead of strengthening European production. “As it is written now, it accelerates nothing except the announced death of the automotive industry,” he said.

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