Cars parked at a Tesla dealership. Automaker Tesla reports its business numbers for the past quarter after a drop in deliveries.
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The European Union said on Tuesday that planned tariffs on Tesla Tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China will be cut to 9% from 20.8%, with a number of tariff cuts planned for other electric vehicle companies.
In June, the EU said it would impose higher tariffs on imports of Chinese electric cars, which it found benefited “significantly from unfair subsidies” and posed a “threat of economic harm” to European electric car producers.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has announced a preliminary finding that China's battery electric vehicle value chain “benefits from unfair subsidies” and declared it in the EU's interest to impose “provisional countervailing duties” on imports of battery electric vehicles from China.
The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled its draft decision “to impose final countervailing duties on imports of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from China.”
The regulator said that after receiving comments from interested parties on the planned tariffs, it would make “slight adjustments to the proposed duty rates based on justified comments on the interim measures.”
Electric cars made by Tesla in China will now face a 9% tariff on imports into the European Union, down from the expected 20.8% the EU signaled in a previous ruling in July.
Tesla shares rose more than 1% in morning trading in the United States following the EU's draft resolution.
The European Union said it has decided to grant Tesla its own reduced individual tariff rate as an exporter from China.
This comes after Elon Musk's electric carmaker made a “justified request” to the European Union to recalculate planned tariffs on electric cars made in China to reflect specific subsidies the company receives in China.
Tesla was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC on Tuesday.
BYD, the electric vehicle company backed by Warren Buffett, saw its tariff rate fall from 17.4% to 17%; Geely from 19.9% to 19.3%; and SAIC from 37.6% to 36.3%. BYD, Geely and SAIC did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours in China.
The commission said other companies that cooperate with the EU in its investigation into massive Chinese subsidies for electric cars will face a 21.3% tariff, up from the 20.8% rate that cooperating companies would have faced under the EU’s previous ruling in July.
As for countries that do not cooperate, they will be subject to a customs duty of 36.3%, which represents a decrease from the previous customs duty of 37.6%.
CNBC's Sophie Kiderlein contributed to this article.
