The European Union is days away from a decision on possible new tariffs against Chinese EVs. 

The EU had originally planned to announce its decision by June 5, before deciding to delay until directly after the June 6-9 European Parliament election period, Reuters reports. The EU currently has a 10% tariff in place for imported Chinese EVs; it's unclear how much that number would increase under new levies.

China has signaled that it plans to retaliate against any new EU tariffs with a 25% tax of its own on cars imported from Europe, according to Bloomberg. That could have sweeping impacts across the European automative industry, particularly for German manufacturers such as Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, and VW. China also sent two ministers to Europe directly before the EU parliament elections, in what Politico called a "last-ditch charm offensive" to avert a potential trade war. 

“If the Europeans keep suppressing Chinese companies, China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese businesses,” Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao said in a news release.

The U.S. raised its tariffs on Chinese EVs from 27% to 100% in May, over concerns that China has been undercutting the global green energy market by flooding it with cheap technology. The EU launched a still-ongoing investigation into the impact of imported Chinese EVs in October of 2023.