Such an inspection could lead to Tesla receiving a lower duty than the average of 21 percent, as only individually verified producers receive their own duty, Politico said.
European Union inspectors visited Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) Shanghai factory last week, bringing it one step closer to getting lower individual duty on its cars built in China and shipped to the EU, Politico said in a July 3 report.
A note from the EU's trade arm dated June 18 said the European Commission intended to visit Tesla between June 26-28, according to the report.
The three-day visit was notably much shorter than other exporter inspections, which lasted several weeks earlier this year.
Tesla is the largest exporter of EVs from China to the EU, but the European Commission did not initially select it for a visit in its anti-subsidy investigation in China. The company therefore applied to receive individual treatment and had that request granted, according to Politico.
Such an inspection could result in Tesla receiving a lower duty than the average of 21 percent, as only individually verified producers can receive their own duty, the report said.
On June 12, the European Commission pre-disclosed the level of provisional countervailing duties to be imposed on imports of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from China.
Among the pre-disclosed duty rates were 17.4 percent for BYD, 20 percent for Geely and 38.1 percent for SAIC.
It was 21 percent for other BEV producers that cooperated with the investigation but were not sampled, and 38.1 percent for other BEV producers that did not cooperate in the investigation.
A table published by the European Commission at the time showed that 13 automakers, including Tesla, Nio (NYSE: NIO), Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV), and Leapmotor, were listed as BEV producers that cooperated with the investigation but were not sampled.
Yesterday, the European Commission announced that it would impose provisional countervailing duties on BEVs imported from China starting July 5, but at slightly reduced rates.
Specifically, the separate tariffs applicable to the three Chinese producers are:
BYD: 17.4 percent;
Geely: 19.9 percent;
SAIC: 37.6 percent.
Other Chinese BEV producers that cooperated with the investigation but were not sampled are subject to a weighted average tariff of 20.8 percent. The tariff for other non-cooperating companies is 37.6 percent.
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