European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen hosts auto sector executives, unions and others on Thursday to debate how to ensure EU car producers can electrify their fleets and compete with more advanced Chinese and U.

Tesla's legal challenge is in response to the EU introducing tariffs at the end of October of 7.8 percent on Tesla's China-made vehicles. The bloc has also set tariffs of up to 35.3 percent on other China-made EVs. The new tariffs come on top of a 10 percent standard import tariff that was already in place for electric vehicle imports into the EU.

Tesla and Germany’s BMW are suing the European Commission, joining a growing band of Chinese automakers to oppose the European Union on its punitive tariffs on electric vehicles.

The EU hit Tesla with an additional 7.8% tariff for Model 3s exported to Europe from China. An investigation found that the Chinese government had provided unfair subsidies to local brands.

The EU imposed anti-subsidy tariffs of 7.8% on Tesla on top of the 10% levy. BMW’s imports were hit with a 20.7% duty. The firm was hit because its electric Mini Cooper and the 100% electric Mini Aceman are made in China, according to car website Autogear.

The EU imposed extra tariffs of up to 35% on Chinese-manufactured EVs in October after an anti-subsidy investigation found Chinese state support was unfairly undercutting European automakers.

Tesla TSLA0.24%increase; green up pointing triangle and Germany’s BMW BMW 0.51%increase; green up pointing triangle are suing the European Commission, joining a growing band of Chinese ...

Elon Musk’s Tesla and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) have sued the European Union’s (EU) executive, adding to a flurry of cases by Chinese carmakers attacking tariffs peaking at 45% on imports of electric vehicles (EVs) into the bloc.

The sector, hit by factory closures and job cuts, including 54,000 job losses among auto suppliers last year, also needs to confront economic threats such as U.S. trade tariffs and a reliance on China for critical minerals and batteries.

There’s been considerable talk lately of a tariff war brewing, but some shots have already been fired by the European Union with both Tesla and BMW in turn suing. That’s right, the German and American automakers have both filed suit against the European Commission because of tariffs levied against their cars.

EU talks to relaunch Europe's embattled car industry are to get underway on Thursday, with automotive CEOs awaited in Brussels to discuss fines and competition from China. The car industry in particular has been plunged into crisis by high manufacturing costs,