China Could Cut Tariffs On U.S.-Made Vehicles

A proposal has been made to China’s cabinet to eliminate the 25 per cent surcharge the country slapped onto U.S.-made vehicles earlier this year.

The surcharge, implemented as part of the ongoing trade war between the United States and China, instigated by President Donald Trump, saw tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles jump to 40 per cent in China from 15 per cent. Bloomberg reports that the plan to eliminate the surcharge will be revised in the coming days.

President Trump suggested that he had won a concession during talks with China at the G20 summit in Argentina. Both Chinese and American trade officials say that there is indeed dialog between the two nations to reach a compromise.

While China may not want to concede to President Trump, it is experiencing the sixth straight month of declining car sales after decades of unprecedented growth. It is thought that trade tensions between the two countries have impacted Chinese car sales.

“Last week, events seemed to conspire to throw the truce into disarray, but the underlying incentives of both sides at the moment are to try to maintain that truce,” chief Asian economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, Freya Beamish said.

“Now we are seeing the possibility that China will come through with reductions of tariffs on U.S. autos, and that’s another good, concrete step.”

On the back of this news, shares in a handful of automakers increased. For example, shares in BMW rose 1.8 per cent, Daimler’s share price increased by 2.7 per cent, Volkswagen rallied by 3.6 per cent, and General Motors jumped by 1.5 per cent.