Chinese car giants BYD, Geely and SAIC sue European Commission over EV tariffs

Three of China’s biggest car companies and an industry body are suing the European Commission over its tariffs on electric vehicle imports.

Filings lodged at the General Court in Luxembourg, the European Union’s second highest court, show BYD, Geely and SAIC have all launched cases against the anti-subsidy duties imposed on Chinese-made EVs last year.

Few details have been made public, but it is understood that the companies are ready to challenge the assertion that certain funds constitute subsidies, the way the subsidies were calculated and the assumption that they caused injury to the EU’s single market.

The cases centre on a year-long investigation launched by the commission in October 2023 into China’s EV sector. It concluded that subsidies throughout the supply chain were leading to underpriced EVs being shipped from China to Europe, threatening the health of the European automotive industry.

Last October, a top rate tariff of 35.3 per cent was applied to EVs from state-owned SAIC and its subsidiaries, on top of a baseline 10 per cent duty that applies to all EV imports.

BYD and Geely, plus their subsidiaries, were hit with duties of 17 per cent and 18.8 per cent respectively.