Türkiye imposes additional 40 percent tariff on Chinese cars

ANKARA

Türkiye has imposed an additional 40 percent tariff on all Chinese-made vehicles in a bid to narrow the current account deficit and protect domestic automakers.

The custom duties will apply to Chinese-made internal combustion engines and hybrid cars, the Trade Ministry has said.

The additional tariff will be set at a minimum of $7,000 per vehicle, with effect from July 7, according to a presidential decision published in the Official Gazette.

Last year, Türkiye raised customs duty on Chinese electric vehicles and introduced some other regulations regarding EV maintenance and services.

An additional tariff will be imposed on vehicles from China in order to increase and protect the decreasing share of domestic auto production, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement issued by the ministry also noted the move on additional tariff decision was made taking into current account deficit targets and developments regarding the foreign trade balance.

The tariff on Chinese-made vehicles was previously 10 percent.

The prices of Chinese cars sold in the Turkish market are expected to go up significantly because, on top of the additional customs duty, there will be increases in the special consumption tax and the value-added tax on those cars.

Some business groups had previously voiced their concerns over the increasing share of Chinese brands in the Turkish market.

The major Chinese auto brands marketed in Türkiye are Cherry, BYD Skywell, MG, Leapmotor, Seres, DFSK, Maxus, Hongqi, NETA and SWM.

The share of Chinese cars in the Turkish market has increased gradually over the past years, nearing 10 percent.

The local auto market contracted by 10.1 percent in May, after sales fell more than 22 percent year-on-year in the previous months, according to data from the Automotive Distributors’ and Mobility Association (ODMD).

More than 100,000 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were sold in Türkiye in May.

Passenger car sales were down 8.2 percent annually to 80,260 units, which followed a 21 percent drop in sales in April.

In the first five months of 2024, the combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles increased 6 percent from a year ago to more than 471,000 units, with passenger car sales rising 10.3 percent to 375,000.

From January to May, Cherry sold 6,208 cars in the Turkish market, while MG sold around 2,300 vehicles.

BYD and Skyweel delivered 203 and 25 passenger cars in the first five months of 2024, according to the number of ODMD. Another Chinese brand Leapmotor sold 17 passenger cars while DFSK delivered 86 passenger cars and commercial vehicles.