[ad_1]
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump's administration hinted on Wednesday that it is considering toughening tariffs on imported passenger vehicles, particularly from China, reinforcing its protectionist stance against General Motors plans to turn domestic and foreign factories to idle.
If Washington imposed a 25% tariff on cars, as has long been the case with small trucks, "many more cars would be built here" and GM "would not close its plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland, "tweeted Trump.
"The president has great power over this issue," he wrote.
The United States charges a 2.5% duty on passenger vehicles in most countries. The Department of Commerce is studying the possibility of raising tariffs on the basis of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, 1962, which allows for prosecution of trading partners for security reasons. national.
At a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September, Trump said he would not raise car rates while the countries were in trade negotiations. The United States concluded a similar agreement with the European Union in July. Nevertheless, the US leader continues to threaten new taxes if progress on trade issues is insufficient.
The Commerce Department is to report back to Trump by February. It then has 90 days to decide to introduce new restrictions on imports.
The US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, said it would look at how to "equalize" the tariffs that the US and China apply to auto imports. on the other. The United States imposes an additional 25% duty on Chinese vehicles at 2.5% for most countries, while China imposes a 40% duty on vehicles manufactured in the United States.
Lighthizer has called Beijing's policy on US automobiles "particularly egregious" because they charge "more than double the 15 percent rate China imposes on its other trading partners."
"China's aggressive state-led industrial policies are causing serious damage to US workers and manufacturers," Lighthizer said in a statement. "We continue to raise these issues with China." For the time being, China has not yet tabled any meaningful reform proposals.
The statement comes just days before a crucial summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Leaders of the world's two largest economies will meet this weekend on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires to discuss issues ranging from trade tensions to security.
On Monday, GM announced that it would reduce its workforce by 15% worldwide. It also announced that it would cease the production of future models at five plants in North America, as it reduces the costs associated with conventional gasoline cars and divert resources to new technologies such as automatic and electric vehicles.
This announcement has been widely criticized, including by Trump. The president said that GM should stop car production in China instead of reducing it at home.
Akane Okutsu, editor of Nikkei, contributed to this report.
Source link
