Summary:
US government has been sued by the major automakers like Tesla, Volvo, Ford and Mercedes-Benz demanding custom duties paid for importing Chinese goods to 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 $500 billion in imports from the People`s Republic of China."
China is the world`s biggest auto market and the main growth driver for many car manufacturers -- especially for electric car maker Tesla, which intends to benefit from the country`s ambitious targets for reducing CO2 emissions.