Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers BYD, Geely, and SAIC have filed legal challenges against the European Union’s recently imposed import tariffs at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), court filings revealed on Thursday.
The tariffs, introduced in late October following an EU anti-subsidy investigation, added substantial duties to the standard 10% car import tax. BYD faces a 17.0% tariff, Geely 18.8%, and SAIC 35.3%. Legal filings indicate the companies lodged their complaints at the General Court—the CJEU’s lower chamber—on Tuesday, narrowly meeting the filing deadline.
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The General Court typically takes about 18 months to rule on cases, with the option for appeals. Details of the challenges remain undisclosed, but they are expected to question the basis for the tariffs, the determination of subsidies, and the potential injury to EU industries.
The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME) also filed a separate complaint, according to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU). The CCCEU has called for Beijing and Brussels to negotiate a compromise, suggesting minimum price commitments as an alternative to tariffs.
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The European Commission, which spearheaded the investigation, acknowledged the cases and has two months and 10 days to prepare its defense. Talks between Beijing and Brussels on tariff adjustments have been ongoing since September, the Commission said.
The legal challenges are expected to scrutinize the EU’s methodology, including the decision to exclude Tesla —China’s largest EV exporter to the EU—from the investigation sample. Tesla received the lowest additional tariff of 7.8%. Critics argue that its inclusion could have lowered the average tariff rates for cooperating companies, currently at 20.7%.
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SAIC is likely to contest its significantly higher tariff of 35.3%, which the Commission justified based on its non-cooperation during the investigation. This allowed the EU to use alternate data sources to estimate its tariff.
Source: Reuters