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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.
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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.
For Tesla, which cut a side deal with the European Commission, the rate is 7.8 per cent. Other companies deemed to have cooperated with the EU's anti-subsidy probe pay rate of 20.7 per cent, while those found to have been uncooperative pay the maximum 35.3 per cent. The duties were imposed for a period of five years.
Sources said the three companies were also likely to challenge the nature of the investigation, including their selection as part of a sample from which the average anti-subsidy duty was calculated and applied to other exporters.
The three companies lodged their filings on January 21, while the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products filed a case on Thursday, a Chinese business group confirmed.
Olof Gill, the EU's trade spokesman, said "we take note, and will be ready to defend [the duties] in court".
The trade publication MLex reported on Thursday that Tesla's Shanghai operation and the German car maker BMW had also filed cases against the duties.
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU said it "strongly" supported the legal action "against what we view as unjust trade practices".