Mercedes Benz

Trump wrote a late-night tweet. China remains silent. By now everyone is aware of the ongoing trade war between the US and China. President Trump made the first strike months ago when he imposed tariffs on imported Chinese goods. China responded in kind, and its response hurt. It tacked on tariffs for US-made cars imported to China and American automakers were not happy, to say the least. However, it appears a deal of some sort has been made. Trump wrote on Twitter that “China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40%.” Little else has since been said by the president. China hasn’t said a thing. But already shares of German automakers like BMW and Daimler have rallied following Trump’s comment. Tesla will also be very happy about this deal because it desperately needs China’s business. Although it is about to begin construction of a new plant in China, Tesla will still need to import vehicles for the foreseeable future. ...

A profit pinch point is developing for automakers and suppliers working on new vehicle platforms: the cost of the tools to build them. Toolmakers are adding tariff costs to their prices, says Laurie Harbour, a consultant who works closely with the North American supplier and tool-and-die industries. Harbour warns that a wave of higher-than-expected bills from tool shops will soon hit the auto industry. Toolmakers are dealing with higher prices for steel as a result of a new 25 percent U.S. import tariff on the metal, as well as tariffs on specific Chinese-made automotive tooling. Imported automotive injection molds have been hit with a tariff, and that is spinning uncertainty through the tooling industry, said Harbour, CEO of Harbour Results Inc. in suburban Detroit. A major shift in automotive tool manufacturing has occurred over the past two decades with China emerging as a key source for North American manufacturers. Further complicating the outlook is how the United States and Cana...

European automotive stocks jumped, with BMW AG touching an 11-week high, after the European Union's top trade official said the bloc is willing to include cars among U.S. industrial goods that could be imported duty free. “We are willing to bring down even our car tariffs to zero, all tariffs to zero, if the U.S. does the same,” Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told European Parliament lawmakers Thursday at a committee meeting in Brussels. Autos were previously excluded from the discussions that focused on manufactured products bought and sold between the two markets. Removing tariffs “would be good for us economically and good for them -- mutually beneficial.” Even though Malmstrom's comments go beyond a joint EU-U.S. statement on July 25 that said the two sides would work toward eliminating tariffs on “non-auto industrial goods,” the bloc already had expressed a willingness to cut levies on cars and car parts among all major automobile-exporting countries, according to an...

President Donald Trump rejected a European Union offer to scrap tariffs on cars, likening the bloc's trade policies to those of China. “It's not good enough,” Trump said of the offer from Brussels during an Oval Office interview with Bloomberg News. “Their consumer habits are to buy their cars, not to buy our cars.” Trump's comments come just hours after Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told European Parliament lawmakers that the EU would be “willing to bring down even our car tariffs to zero, all tariffs to zero, if the U.S. does the same.” Autos were previously excluded from the discussions that focused on manufactured products bought and sold between the two markets. Trump compared the EU to China, where the president is engaged in another escalating trade war. “The European Union is almost as bad as China, just smaller,” Trump said. Trump has ordered the Commerce Department to investigate whether light-vehicle imports imperil national security, under the same provis...