Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at a Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China September 25, 2024. China Daily via REUTERS

BRUSSELS, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The European Commission has started a review of the anti-subsidy tariffs on Volkswagen's electric vehicles built in China, which could lead to them being replaced with a minimum price undertaking, the EU official journal said on Thursday.

The Commission, which set tariffs on China-built EVs in October 2024, said it had received an offer of an undertaking from VW Anhui and its review would assess whether it was acceptable and practical.

Volkswagen referred Reuters' request for comment to the group's Spanish subsidiary Seat, whose Tavascan all-electric SUV is made in China for export under the Seat and Cupra brands. A spokesperson for Seat did not immediately respond.

Volkswagen's Anhui plant is a majority-owned joint venture with China's JAC Automobile Group.

Under EU rules in place since October 2024, exports from the Volkswagen Anhui plant are subject to a 20.7% tariff, which has been described by the Seat/Cupra business as a serious threat to the brands.

The Commission said in April that it had agreed with China to look into setting minimum prices of Chinese-made EVs instead of tariffs, but it has insisted that any minimum prices would need to be as effective and enforceable as the tariffs.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels and Rachel More in Berlin; Editing by Joe Bavier and Ludwig Burger)