French economic minister Bruno Le Maire and his German counterpart Robert Habeck both welcomed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement to open a probe into unfair Chinese competition in the electric vehicle (EV) sector.

Chinese EV prices were being “kept artificially low by huge state subsidies”, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. State subsidies that make exports artificially cheap are banned under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, and the EU has opted for punitive tariffs on similarly subsidised Chinese solar panels in the past.