After BMW and the US car maker also has three Chinese manufacturers Tesla Lawsuit against the EU customs surcharges on electric cars China submitted. Companies are going against the tariffs before the European Court of Justice (ECJ), as a spokesman for the EU Commission confirmed in Brussels on Monday. The Commission is ready to defend its decision in court.
The Chinese manufacturers Byd, Saic and Geely had already lodged a complaint with the ECJ on Friday, BMW also participated in the lawsuit. The carmakers have had to pay additional tariffs since last autumn if they import their vehicles from China into the EU. Brussels had introduced the tariffs because Beijing, according to the Commission, gives his carmakers a competitive advantage with unfair subsidies.
Saic has to pay a surcharge of 35.5 percent
Since then, the car manufacturer Saic has to pay the maximum rate of 35.5 percent in addition to the previous ten percent inches, for Geely there is a surcharge of 18.8 percent and 17 percent for BYD. BMW has to pay an additional 20.7 percent on electric cars produced in China. With the Commission, the US manufacturer Tesla had negotiated a lower duty rate of 7.8 percent.
The tariff “damage the business model of global companies”, explained the BMW group to justify its lawsuit. Nevertheless, BMW still thinks it is better to negotiate with Beijing. “It is important to avoid a trade conflict where there is only losers in the end,” said the company.
Beijing had reacted to the surcharges from Brussels with tariffs on European vineyards. Both sides have already been pulled before the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the trade dispute. Negotiations on a compromise have so far been without result.