Tesla has joined BMW and Chinese producers in filing a challenge at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against EU tariffs on China-made electric vehicles, according to a filing on the court's website on Monday.

BRUSSELS: Elon Musk's Tesla and German auto giant BMW have challenged EU import tariffs on China-made electric vehicles at the bloc's top court, the European Commission said on Monday (Jan 27).

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.

A six-phase “road map” prepared by the EU’s foreign service advocates a “staged approach” to lifting sanctions on the country “to incentivise peaceful transition and reconstruction”. An arms embargo, sanctions on equipment used for internal repression and measures targeting Assad regime officials would be exempt, the document states.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she expected the bloc to agree Monday to begin easing sanctions on Syria after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad."It is a step for step approach," Kallas said at the start of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels to discuss the move.

Some European Union sanctions against Syria are being lifted, France's foreign minister said on Monday, as part of a broader EU move to help stabilise Damascus after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in December.