Tesla Sues to Block Trump Tariffs on Imports From China

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Tesla is suing the U.S. government and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer over the Trump administration’s tariffs on items Tesla imports from China. Tesla wants the court to declare two batches of Trump administration tariffs to be void, and refund Tesla the tariffs it paid with interest, according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

The specific tariffs at issue are known as List 3 and List 4. List 3 went into effect on 2018 and currently places 25% duties on $200 billion of imported goods from China. List 4 went into effect in 2019 and currently consists of a 7.5% tariff on $120 billion of Chinese imports. Both lists contain hundreds of very specific items, ranging from raw materials to electronic components. The lawsuit did not describe which items Tesla paid tariffs on, nor how much it paid.

Tesla’s lawyers argued in Wednesday’s filing, which also named the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Mark Morgan, as a defendant, the U.S. trade representative’s imposition of List 3 and List 4 duties was arbitrary and capricious because USTR did not provide meaningful opportunity to comment, failed to consider relevant factors when making its decision, and failed to draw a rational connection between the facts found and the choices made.