(Reuters) -Volvo Cars will postpone the U.S. deliveries of its EX30 electric vehicle as it focuses on expanding production of the compact SUV outside China in the wake of tariff hikes on exports from the country, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Volvo had previously said it would begin selling the EX30 in the United States later this year, but a spokesperson on Wednesday told Reuters that deliveries will not start until 2025, in part due to the introduction of tariffs of more than 100% on Chinese EV imports by the U.S. government.

U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled steep tariff hikes on Chinese imports last month, including over 100% on EVs, up from 27.5% earlier.

Subsequently, the European Commission has also said it would impose extra duties of up to 38.1% on imported Chinese electric cars from July, risking retaliation from Beijing, which said it would take measures to safeguard its interests.

Volvo, the Swedish luxury brand owned by China's Geely, started building the EX30 in Zhangjiakou, China, and said last year it would expand production of the small electric SUV to a plant in Belgium beginning 2025.

The Volvo spokesperson said on Wednesday the Belgium plant will primarily serve North America and Europe.

(Reporting by Harshita Meenaktshi in Bengaluru and Chris Kirkham in Los Angeles; Editing by Pooja Desai and Shinjini Ganguli)