China to cut car import duty

Immediate threat of trade war recedes

BEIJING: China will cut the import duty on passenger cars to 15%, boosting auto makers such as BMW AG and Ford Motor Co just as the immediate threat of a trade war with the US recedes.

The Finance Ministry said yesterday that the levy would be lowered effective July 1 from the current 25% that has been in place for more than a decade.

A reduction in import duty follows a truce between President Donald Trump’s administration and Chinese officials as they seek to defuse tensions and avert an all-out trade war.

While the levy reduction could be claimed in some quarters as a concession to Trump and will be a boon to US carmakers such as Tesla Inc, the move will also end up benefiting European and Asian manufacturers from Daimler AG to Toyota Motor Corp.

The latest round of tariff easing is part of a flurry of policy announcements in recent months aimed at demonstrating China’s commitment to opening the economy — partly in response to the accusations of protectionism leveled by the Trump administration.

Beijing has also pledged to slash ownership limits in the auto sector as well as in banking, and last November reduced import tariffs on almost 200 categories of consumer products.

“The import duty on car parts will be reduced to 6%,’’ the Finance Ministry said.

China announced on May 18 that it would end its anti-dumping and antisubsidy investigation into imports of US sorghum, citing “public interest.”

That move, coupled with recent steps including restarting a review of Qualcomm Inc’s application to acquire NXP Semiconductors NV, signal a conciliatory stance from the Chinese side.

President Trump retreated from imposing tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods because of White House discord over trade strategy and concern about harming negotiations with North Korea, according to people briefed on the administration’s deliberations.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday that the administration’s plan to impose tariffs had been suspended, and Trump said on Twitter on Monday that the Chinese had agreed to purchase unspecified amounts of American farm products.

China imported 1.22 million vehicles last year, or about 4.2% of the country’s total sales of about 28.9 million automobiles. At the Boao Forum in April, President Xi Jinping reiterated China’s commitment to reduce import tariffs on vehicles.

Of the $51 billion of vehicle imports in 2017, about $13.5 billion came from North America including sales of models made there by non-US manufacturers like BMW.

China imported 280,208 vehicles, or 10% of total imported automobiles, from the US last year, according to China’s Passenger Car Association, an industry trade body.

A duty cut would typically benefit luxury carmakers or manufacturers, like Tesla, that don’t have a local production site. Most automakers produce massmarket models in China.

For Tesla, a tariff cut will provide a boon until the company manages to set up local production.

The Palo Alto, California-based company has been working with Shanghai’s government since last year to explore assembling cars in China.

Luxury sales leader Audi, part of Volkswagen AG, has been making cars in China since 1990s. General Motors Co’s Cadillac, which has relegated Lexus to fifth in the luxury-car rankings, opened a factory in Shanghai in 2016.

High-end autos will feel the effects of a tariff cut because less of their production has moved locally. For example, Toyota’s Lexus would benefit as the only premium Japanese marque that doesn’t manufacture in China or hasn’t announced plans to do so.

Foreign carmakers have long pleaded for freer access to China’s auto market, while its own manufacturers are expanding abroad. In April, China announced a timetable to permit foreign automakers to own more than 50% of local ventures.