Chinese carmakers make their case against EU taxes

Bloomberg and staff reporter

The three Chinese automakers, BYD (1211), Geely (0175) and SAIC, singled out by the European Union in its anti-subsidy probe have sought and received additional hearings with regulators from the bloc as Beijing and Brussels continue to negotiate ahead of a November deadline to finalize the tariffs.

SAIC Motor, the Chinese state-owned manufacturer hit with the highest duty of the three, at 37.6 percent, said in a filing Monday that the European Commission had conducted a hearing on July 19, as SAIC had requested.

Geely has also been granted a hearing with the EU in recent days to refute the provisional duties that were announced earlier this month, a person familiar with the matter said

BYD is likely to have had a hearing as well.

BYD's additional tariff is set at 17.4 percent, while Geely's is 19.9 percent.

Meanwhile, mass production for Xiaomi's (1810) SU7 Ultra will be launched in the first half of next year, chairman and chief executive Lei Jun said.

In other news, South Korea's LG Energy Solution is in talks with three Chinese suppliers to produce low-cost electric car batteries for Europe, a senior executive said, with competition set to intensify after the EU slapped the extra tariffs on China-built EVs.