Tesla sues to block Trump administration's tariffs on China imports: report

SAN FRANCISCO - US electric automaker Tesla has filed a lawsuit with the US Court of International Trade in New York, which aims to prevent the Trump administration from collecting tariffs on car parts it imports from China, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday.

The case seeks an order to declare the duties unlawful and a refund with interest on the amounts it has already paid, Bloomberg reported.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is named as the defendant in the case. Tesla is challenging the actions he made, arguing that the increased cost of imports would hurt the financial state of the company, the report said.

The case is labeled as Tesla Inc. v. US, 20-03142, US Court of International Trade in New York, according to the report.

The company aimed to avoid the 25 percent tariffs on the Chinese-made computer and central display screens used in its Model 3 sedan.

"Avoiding a trade war will benefit all countries," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in April 2018. Tesla has built a gigafactory in China's Shanghai after the US-China trade war raged on.