Europe wants affordable electric vehicles from China. But not at the cost of its own auto industry

The European Union moved Wednesday to hike tariffs, or import taxes, on electric vehicles made in China. EVs are the latest flash point in a broader trade dispute over Chinese government subsidies and the Asian nation's burgeoning exports of green technology to the 27-nation bloc.

Here are some basic facts about the EU's planned tariffs:

What did the European Union do?

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said the preliminary results of its ongoing investigation into Chinese EV subsidies show that the country's battery electric vehicle “value chain” benefits from "unfair subsidization" that hurts EU rivals. It plans to impose provisional tariffs of up to 38.1% on electric vehicles shipped from China. That's on top of the 10% duties for all imported EVs.