The Chinese government has expressed concern that the new £650m Electric Car Grant (ECG) scheme could fall foul of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules if it is not equally applied to Chinese imports.

Department for Transport (DfT) officials have signalled that that it will not allow Chinese EV to access the new grant scheme, which would indeed put it at odds with the WTO and be doubly embarrassing for a government that has held the ‘rule of international law’ as a central concept.

The grant could reduce the cost of a vehicle by £3,750 but following the backlash around the procurement of Chinese solar panels that could not verify their human rights supply chains, the scheme is set to reject EVs from nations with ESG issues or use of fossil fuels in the EV production (this is where China would score badly).

With the EU also applying tariffs, due to claims that Chinese EVs are subsidised, a looming trade war could see the cost of EVs rise, just as the take up needs to accelerate. From a Chinese view, the effective ban in the UK is just another illegal trade tariff, like the EU’s, to the Government it is a question of standards, and if Chinese EVs are cheaper, at what other cost?

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