Tesla, Volvo, Ford and Mercedes-Benz sue US government over tariffs on Chinese imports

By AFP September 24, 2020 @ 8:53am

NEW YORK: Major automakers Tesla, Volvo, Ford and Mercedes-Benz have sued the US government over tariffs on Chinese goods, demanding customs duties paid on imports be returned, with interest.

The lawsuits, which were filed in recent days in the New York-based Court of International Trade, concern tariffs imposed by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) on imports from China, which Tesla in its filing called "arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion."

The duties came amid a wider trade dispute between Washington and Beijing, and the automakers are asking for the tariffs to be revoked and any money paid to import parts returned.

Mercedes-Benz in its filing accused Washington of "prosecution of an unprecedented, unbounded, and unlimited trade war impacting over US$500 billion in imports from the People's Republic of China."