The Chinese Government is planning to withdraw from producing the B10 Leamport electric car in the Tychy plant in Silesia, southern Poland, in retaliation for Poland supporting European Commission duties on China.
The EC in October introduced tariffs on Chinese electric car (EV) producers for a period of five years. They are in the range of 7.8 to 35.3 per cent depending on the level of subsidy granted by China to each of its producers.
The B10 EV, which is already available for purchase in China, was due to enter the European market in 2025, produced at the Tychy plant.
According to Reuters, that is expected to be transferred to countries that did not back the duties such as Slovakia and Germany.
Ten EU member states voted in favour of the tariffs, among them Poland. But Germany voted against because its major car producers such as BMW and Volksvagen are heavily invested in China.
The Stellantis company that produces the Leamport B10 owns three plants in Germany producing popular models such as Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat and Opel. But, according to a recent report by Die Welt, the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico intends to compete with Germany for the localisation of the Chinese plant to produce the B10.
Fico visited China in October and underlined that his country was opposed the tariffs imposed by the EC against Beijing.
Over the past five years, trade between China and Poland has seen an average annual growth rate of more than 10 per cent. In 2023, their bilateral trade was valued at approximately €35 billion.
Poland was one of the first European countries to sign an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding with Beijing to develop China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2016. Around 90 per cent of trains on the China Europe Railway Express (CRE) pass through or have Poland as their destination, underscoring Poland’s strategic importance in the initiative.
China is Poland’s second-largest trading partner, following Germany. Poland is China’s top trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe but has a reported trade deficit with Beijing of more than €10 billion.
