The south China Morning Post reports Friday that electric vehicle giant, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will not be a part of the European Union’s investigation into subsidies granted by the Chinese government but may be subject to duties based on their own discovered subsidies.
Tesla ships more electric vehicles from China to Europe than any other company. However, Brussels is instead focused on three Chinese-owned manufacturers, BYD (SZ:002594), SAIC Motor Corp Ltd (SS:600104), and Geely Automobile Holdings (OTC:GELYF) Ltd (OTC:GELYY).
SAIC Motor is a state-owned giant, while the other two are privately held companies. Nonetheless, as Geely was founded in 1986 and BYD in 1995, it's likely that all three firms have received more direct subsidies over the last few decades than international brands.
If the first investigation into BYD, SAIC, and Geely reveals evidence of unfair competition due to distorted subsidies, Tesla and other companies producing vehicles in China and exporting to Europe might also be included in the probe.
Approximately 20% of electric vehicles sold in Europe are built in China.
Shares of TSLA are up 0.77% in afternoon trading on Friday.