Trump threatens BMW with US border tax
Trump threatens to slap on a US border tax to all BMW cars
Just days before his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump has made a stark warning to the German car manufacturer BMW, that the United States will seek to impose a border tax of 35 percent on all cars they plan to build at their new plant in Mexico and export to the U.S. market.
Donald Trump made the announcement on Sunday in an interview with German newspaper Bild.
BMW are building a new plant in Mexico which will be in addition to the existing 3 Series production facilities in Germany and China. A BMW spokeswoman said a BMW Group plant in San Luis Potosi would build the BMW 3 Series starting from 2019, with the output intended for the world market.
In what could only be perceived as a veiled threat, President-Elect Trump suggested BMW should build its new car factory in the United States instead of Mexico because this would be "much better" for the company.
He went on to say that although Germany was a great car producer and had a huge presence in the American auto market, there is no reciprocity. His observation was borne out by Mercedes-Benz cars being a frequent sight in New York. whereas you will not see the same amount of US cars in German cities.
Germans are certainly not buying Chevrolets at the same rate as Americans are buying German cars. Trump went on to reveal that the automotive business relationship between Germany and the United States was an unfair one-way street. He said he was an advocate of free trade, but not at any cost.
The BMW spokeswoman said the company was "very much at home in the U.S.," employing directly and indirectly nearly 70,000 people in the country.
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