BERLIN (Reuters) - BMW will propose this week that the European Union lower its tariff on U.S. car imports to 2.5% from 10%, in line with the current U.S. import tariff, the German automaker's CEO Oliver Zipse said on Tuesday.

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.

BMW said in a statement that EU duties on battery electric vehicles “harm business models of globally active companies.”