SAIC to file lawsuit against EU over EV tariffs

The Shanghai-based SAIC Motor Corp, which owns the British automotive marque MG, is planning to file a lawsuit against the European Commission now that the latter has started imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

SAIC’s legal action plan comes as the EC announced on Tuesday that it will slap 7.8-35.3% tariffs on EVs made in China from Wednesday. The measure is definitive and will last for five years.

Tesla, owned by American technology mogul Elon Musk, now faces a tariff of 7.8% when exporting its EVs from China to the European Union. It was the least hit by the EU’s tariff actions as it had cooperated with the bloc’s anti-subsidy investigation over the past 13 months.

Geely, one of the largest EV sellers in China, faces an 18.8% tariff while SAIC Motor faces the highest triff, 35.3%. Shenzhen-based BYD has to pay a 17% tariff.

All these additional tariffs will come on top of a 10% tariff for all automobiles imported by the European Union. That means SAIC will have to pay a tariff of 45.3%.

“China does not agree with or accept the ruling and has filed a lawsuit under the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system,” a spokesperson of the Chinese Commerce Department said Wednesday. ”China will continue to take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”

The spokesperson also said that China has repeatedly pointed out that the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation of Chinese EVs contains a lot of unreasonable and non-compliant elements, and that it is a protectionist approach that aims to push forward unfair competition in the name of fair competition.

“In the anti-subsidy investigation, there were some wrong definitions of subsidies while the