Türkiye Adjusts Tariffs on China-Made EVs to Attract Chinese Investment, Expert Says
(Yicai) July 22 — Türkiye has adjusted its tariffs on imported electric vehicles from China. According to an expert, the reason for this move is attracting investment from Chinese companies.
Türkiye hopes to attract Chinese firms to invest in the country to promote the development of its new energy vehicle market and boost exports to neighboring regions, Zou Zhiqiang, researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies of Fudan University, told Yicai yesterday.
In March last year, Türkiye introduced a 40 percent additional tax on all imported fuel vehicles and imported EVs from China to protect its domestic production capability and reduce its deficit. Last month, the country extended the policy to all types of vehicles and auto parts from China.
However, the Turkish government announced on July 5 that Chinese automakers investing in and building production facilities in the country would be eligible for incentives that would exempt them from the 40 percent additional tariff. Türkiye’s standard import tariff is 10 percent.
The competitiveness of Turkish EVs is relatively weak, as shown by their high prices and low penetration rate, Zou noted. With the tariff reduction, Türkiye hopes to attract foreign investment to rapidly expand the layout and production of the domestic EV market, he added.
“Türkiye is very willing to cooperate with Chinese companies, especially startups,” Huseyin Emre Engin, consul general of Türkiye in Shanghai, told Yicai. “We don’t have the concerns of the West or the so-called technical restrictions. We have always maintained close cooperation with Chinese firms in the fields of EVs and batteries.”
Türkiye’s geographical connectivity allows companies producing in the country to export products to surrounding regions, such as the Middle East and Russia, Engin noted, adding that production and export costs in Türkiye are very low.
On July 4, the European Commission proceeded to levy provisional import tariffs on China-made EVs ranging from 17.4 percent to 37.6 percent. Türkiye has a customs agreement with the European Union, so cars exported from Türkiye to the EU are not subject to additional tariffs, Engin explained.
On July 9, the Embassy of Türkiye in China announced that BYD had signed a deal with the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology on July 8 for the Chinese NEV giant to invest USD1 billion to build a factory and a research and development center in the country to deal with the EU’s anti-subsidy duties. This was only a few days after Türkiye introduced the investment incentives.
However, some Chinese carmakers unveiled plans to build factories in Türkiye even before abolishing the additional tariffs on Türkiye-made Chinese cars. For example, Speedy Working Motors, a subsidiary of China’s Brilliance Auto Group, submitted a proposal to the Turkish government earlier in July to build a plant in the country with an annual production capacity of 50,000 vehicles.
Some 1.23 million cars were sold in Türkiye last year, up over 57 percent from the year before, with Chinese brands achieving a 4.5 percent market share, according to statistics from the Turkish association of automobile manufacturers. Among them, 66,000 units were EVs, accounting for only 6.8 percent of the total.
In the first five months of the year, some 471,700 vehicles were sold in Türkiye, up 6 percent from a year earlier. Chinese carmaker Chery Automobile sold 27,000 units in the country, up 387 percent in the period and ranking fifth after Fiat, Renault, Ford Motor, and Volkswagen Group. SAIC Motor’s MG marque and BYD are the two other Chinese firms selling cars in Türkiye.
Editor: Futura Costaglione
