# UK weighs Chinese EV tariffs to join EU trade scheme

> Britain considers aligning with EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to join the Made in Europe package, drawing a warning from Beijing.
- Title: UK weighs Chinese EV tariffs to join EU trade scheme
- Summary: Britain considers aligning with EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to join the Made in Europe package, drawing a warning from Beijing. The UK is…
- Keywords: uk government, china, electric vehicles, tariffs, eu trade policy, made in europe, automotive industry, trade war, news, world, weighs, Chinese
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/politics/2026/oct/16/uk-chinese-electric-vehicle-ev-tariffs-eu-made-in-europe-scheme
- Published: 2026-10-16T18:09:34+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: uk government, china, electric vehicles, tariffs, eu trade policy, made in europe, automotive industry, trade war, news, world
## UK considers Chinese EV tariffs
Downing Street said Friday it would welcome joining the Made in Europe scheme after France dropped opposition to British membership. The price could be aligning with EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
## What Made in Europe aims to do
The scheme gives EU-made products preferential treatment to curb subsidised Chinese imports. The UK and Norway worry they will lose trade advantages if excluded from the package.
## Beijing warns against discrimination
The Chinese embassy in London said it was firmly opposed to any discriminatory practice involving tariff hikes on Chinese products, calling such measures contrary to WTO rules.

> firmly opposed to any discriminatory practice involving tariff hikes or restrictive measures on Chinese products
## UK resists being forced into alignment
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he would not be coerced into aligning with EU policy. But the government fears billions in car industry trade could be lost if locked out of EU supply chains.
## Chinese EV sales surge dramatically
BYD sales rose seventy eight percent year on year in September. Chery rose six hundred sixty percent and Changan rose more than three thousand percent in terms of market share.
## Tariffs could help and harm UK makers
Tariffs would prevent cheap Chinese models flooding the market but could push up consumer prices and harm British manufacturers trying to sell vehicles to China. About eighty percent of UK-made cars are exported.
## Labour MP calls tariffs a necessary cost
Liam Byrne, Labour chair of the parliamentary business committee, said imposing tariffs on Chinese EVs would be a small price to pay to save the industry in both the UK and the EU.

> a small price to pay
## UK lacks coherent China strategy
Byrne criticised the government's approach as naive, based on false hopes China will change its export policy. He said the UK urgently needs a coherent China strategy, which it does not have today.

> The UK urgently needs a coherent China strategy, which it does not have today
## EU to finalise scheme by early 2027
EU lawmakers are expected to finalise the Industrial Accelerator Act by the end of the year or early twenty twenty seven. MEPs have already tabled five thousand one hundred amendments, including one embracing the UK.
## Key takeaway

The UK is considering imposing tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles to join the EU's Made in Europe trade scheme, but faces pressure from Beijing and domestic concerns about costs.