The European Union will impose duties on imports of electric vehicles from China from Thursday, after talks between Brussels and Beijing failed to find an amicable solution to their trade dispute, EU spokesman Olof Gill said.

Electric vehicles have become a major flashpoint in a broader trade dispute over the influence of Chinese government subsidies on European markets — which has forced the undercutting of EU industry prices — and Beijing's burgeoning exports of green technology to the bloc.

According to the European Commission, sales of Chinese-built electric cars jumped from 3.9% of the EV market in 2020 to 25% by September 2023, in part by unfairly undercutting EU industry prices.