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Brussels last month slapped EVs imported from China with hefty provisional tariffs—on top of current duties of 10 per cent — after an anti-subsidy probe found they were unfairly undermining European rivals.

On Tuesday, the commission released a draft plan making the tariffs definitive, at slightly revised rates, subject to input from interested parties by the end of August, and to approval by EU member states by the end of October at the latest.

China’s commerce ministry reiterated that it “firmly opposes” the tariffs while voicing hope that Brussels would work with Beijing “in a rational and pragmatic manner to avoid the escalation of trade frictions.”

A European Commission official said the EU executive remained “open” to resolving the trade dispute without resorting to tariffs, but that “it’s very much up to China to come up with alternatives.”

Beijing has so far filed an appeal against the measures with the World Trade Organisation, which Brussels has acknowledged while voicing confidence that the tariffs are WTO-compatible.

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