The Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) “expresses its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the EC’s protectionist approach”, the group said in a statement.

“The EC’s unfair use of trade tools to hinder free trade in electric vehicles, along with this protectionist approach, will ultimately weaken the resilience of the European electric vehicle industry,” the group said.

“It will exacerbate trade tensions between China and the EU, sending a profoundly negative signal to global cooperation and green development,” it warned.

Brussels last month slapped Chinese EVs with hefty provisional tariffs of up to 38% – on top of current duties of 10% – after an anti-subsidy probe found they were unfairly undermining European rivals.

Today the commission released a draft plan to make those tariffs definitive, at slightly revised rates, subject to input from interested parties by end-August, and to approval by EU member states by end-October.

A European Commission official said the EU executive remained “open” to resolving the dispute without resorting to tariffs – but that the ball was in China’s camp to offer an alternative solution.