BRUSSELS - Elon Musk's Tesla and German auto giant BMW have challenged EU import tariffs on China-made electric vehicles at the bloc's top court, the European Commission said.
The carmakers -- which both manufacture EVs in China -- followed challenges filed with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) by Chinese automakers BYD, Geely and SAIC against the extra tariffs of up to 35 percent.
"We take note of these cases and we look forward to defending ourselves in court," commission spokesman Olof Gill told AFP.
Brussels imposed the extra tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars at the end of October after an anti-subsidy investigation concluded Beijing's state support was unfairly undercutting European automakers.
The move came as Europe's car industry has been plunged into crisis by high manufacturing costs, a stuttering switch to electric vehicles (EV) and increased competition in key market China.
But BMW said the duties "do not strengthen the competitiveness of European manufacturers" and it had thus filed the lawsuit seeking an "annulment of this regulation" in order to "protect its interests".
"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," the German automaker said in a statement.
The EU tariffs followed a more radical US approach that saw former president Joe Biden quadrupling import tariffs on EVs from China to 100 percent, as part of a package of hikes having accused Beijing of "cheating" rather than competing.
Beijing has consistently denied its industrial policies are unfair and has lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization about the EU tariffs.
It later imposed "anti-dumping measures" on brandy imported from the bloc, in what appeared to be a tit-for-tat measure.
Under the EU tariff scheme, Tesla vehicles manufactured in Shanghai face an additional surcharge of 7.8 percent on top of 10 percent already in place for EV imports from China.
BYD similarly faces a 17 percent surcharge, Geely 18.8 percent and SAIC 35.3 percent.