OREANDA-NEWS China has turned to the dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in connection with the temporary compensatory measures of the European Union in relation to electric vehicles, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China reported.

Earlier, the European Commission announced that it would introduce temporary preliminary countervailing duties on imports of electric cars from China from July 4 due to state subsidies in their production. Preliminary fees mean that at this stage suppliers provide bank guarantees, and not the actual payment of fees. The actual collection of duties will begin if the European Union makes a final decision on the introduction of import duties, which may happen in the autumn. Until then, as stated in Brussels, there is still an opportunity to reach an agreement with Beijing and resolve this problem.

"In order to protect the rights and interests of the development of the electric vehicle industry and global cooperation in the field of environmental transformation, on August 9, China resorted to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism in connection with temporary compensatory measures of the European Union in relation to electric vehicles," a statement on the agency's website said.