The European Union will press ahead with hefty tariffs on China-made electric vehicles, the EU executive said on Friday, even after the bloc's largest economy Germany rejected them, exposing a rift over its biggest trade row with Beijing in a decade.

Chinese producers of electric vehicles will soon face steep tariffs before selling their high-end goods in the EU market.

European Union member countries agreed Friday to proceed with the imposition of tarrifs on Chinese electric vehicles exactly one year after launching a probe into whether Beijing was subsidizing its domestic EV industry.