China to slash car import tariffs
BRITISH car makers face a major boost from China, which has vowed to slash tariffs on vehicle imports.
The threat of a trade war between Beijing and Washington receded yesterday as Chinese president Xi Jinping pledged to ‘significantly’ reduce import duties on cars this year.
He also promised to ease restrictions on foreign ownership in China ‘as soon as possible’ and improve protection of foreign firms’ intellectual property.
Trade Minister Baroness Fairhead said a reduction in tariffs would create ‘huge potential for the UK’s manufacturers’.
Firms including Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin and McLaren are supplying soaring demand for luxury cars from China’s rapidly expanding middle class – despite the swingeing tariffs imposed by Beijing.
The climbdown from Mr Xi came after a bitter row with Donald Trump over Beijing’s tough import restrictions.
It led to fears of a trade battle between the world’s two biggest economies, but China appears to have blinked first.
In a speech at business conference in South China, Mr Xi made no mention of Mr Trump, but told Chinese and international investors: ‘Human society is facing a major choice to open or close, to go forward or backward.’
He added: ‘ Paying attention only to one’s own community without thinking of others can only lead into a wall.’
Chinese demand for British-built cars jumped by almost a fifth last year.
Baroness Fairhead said: ‘The UK-China trading relationship is worth £67.5billion a year, with UK exports to China increasing by over 25 per cent last year.’
McLaren, which is based in Woking, Surrey, welcomed the Mr Xi’s pledge.
Dan Mcelholm, its managing director in China, said the news was ‘extremely encouraging’, adding: ‘ We see China as an increasingly important market for McLaren, where we are set to double sales this year.’
Jaguar Land Rover, which sold 146,399 cars in China last year, up 23 per cent on 2016, said it was a ‘key and growing market’.
China is already the UK car industry’s third biggest trading partner after the european Union and the US.