The UK has scored a Brexit win after France U-turned on electric vehicle tariffs.
France has signalled that it wants to delay tariffs on the sale of electric vehicles between the UK and EU which were due to come into effect in January.
This marks a significant turnaround for France over a month after it was reported that they were refusing to delay post-Brexit tariffs.
Speaking to the Financial Times, French trade minister Olivier Brecht said they wanted to resolve the issue.
He added that they were “open to ideas” relating to postponing the introduction of the tariffs and that they hope to find a solution within the next few weeks.
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Mr Brecht added: “The UK is the number one market for European production with a growing demand for EVs and many opportunities for our companies.
“So of course we will be attentive to the solutions that can be presented by the European Commission to solve this issue.”
Under the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement, 10 per cent tariffs will be imposed on electric cars shipped across the channel if a substantial part of their batteries are made outside of Europe.
At the moment, both the UK and European automotive bodies say Europe does not have the capacity to meet the rules of origin threshold.
As the situation threatens to boil over, the European Commission is considering changes to the trade rules.
In a statement reacting to the news, the director-general of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association Sigrid de Vries said: “A three-year extension to the current rules of original is indispensable to protecting the competitiveness of Europe’s electric vehicle manufacturing.”
France’s u-turn comes just over a month after they said they were against postponement of the tariffs.
Motor Finance reported that Renault’s CEO Luca de Meo had called for France to act immediately.
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Mr de Meo’s concerns were built on the threat to the European and British car markets by Chinese cars which are cheaper and have similar technology.
In reaction to the flood of cheap Chinese electric cars, the European Commission launched an investigation into the vehicles last month.
The investigation has been sparked by fears that the influx will detrimentally harm the European car industry over suspicions that Chinese cars are backed by large state subsidies.
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