Carmakers have been granted a three-year delay to “rules of origin” tariffs for electric vehicles (EVs) being sent from and to the UK from the European Union.
Following Brexit, carmakers had a deadline of 2024 to source 45% of a car from within the UK or EU and 60% of EV battery components or face a 10% export tariff.
European carmakers have been fierce critics of the rules, which are aimed at Chinese-sourced vehicles and products, saying it would damage their EV sales more.
Sources quoted in the Financial Times stated that Brexit commissioner Maros Sefcovic had an eleventh-hour change of heart about the proposal and decided instead on a delay.
Most EV batteries currently come from China and politicians in both the EU and Britain are concerned about the prospect of a flood of cheap Chinese EVs that would stifle the industry here before it had a chance to develop properly.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of UK car industry body the SMMT, said of the EU's proposal: "Such an extension would avoid damaging tariffs on the very vehicles we need consumers to buy, allow UK and EU manufacturers to compete with the rest of the world and, crucially, give the European battery industry time to catch up.”
Both Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan have announced major investments in battery factories in the UK recently.