On January 27th, the European Commission confirmed that Tesla and BMW have filed cases at the General Court of the European Union, opposing the imposition of additional punitive tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China.

Olof Gill, spokesperson for the European Commission, stated that the EU has taken note of these cases and will defend itself in court.

In October of last year, despite opposition from various parties, the European Commission insisted on imposing a five-year anti-subsidy tariff on electric vehicles imported from China.

The tariffs were officially implemented on October 30, 2024. Tesla, which manufactures vehicles in Shanghai, faces an additional surcharge of 7.8% on top of the existing 10% import tariff.

BYD faces a 17% surcharge, Geely 18.8%, and SAIC 35.3%, on top of the previous 10% import duty.

China manufactured BMW cars also face a 20.7% additional markup, higher than Tesla, BYD, and Geely.

Source: Tesla

Several automakers, including Tesla, have raised concerns about the Commission's determination of subsidies and calculation methods.

Chinese automakers BYD, Geely, and SAIC have also filed appeals in Luxembourg against the European Commission.

The Chinese electric vehicles market share in the European Union jumped from 3.9% in 2020 to 25% by September 2023.

This rapid growth has sparked fears that Chinese cars will threaten the EU's automotive industry and jeopardize thousands of jobs.

The European Commission argues that the subsidies provided by the Chinese government give these companies an unfair advantage in the EU market and the investigation concluded that these subsidies were causing economic damage to EU electric vehicle producers.

While the EU’s claim to level the playing field may be a pretext to protect its automotive industry, some European automakers have become collateral damages, such as BMW.

Nonetheless, the legal battles and ongoing negotiations with China indicate that this issue is far from resolved.

Now, even Tesla and BMW are taking legal actions. "As stated before, it is important to avoid a trade conflict that only has losers in the end," BMW said.

A BMW spokesperson previously refuted the EU’s claim that these import duties level the field. "On the contrary, the countervailing duties harm the business model of globally active companies, they limit the supply of e-cars to European customers and can therefore even slow down decarbonization in the transport sector,"