CCTV News:On August 6th, the "International Sharp Review" of CCTV broadcasted an article entitled "The Trade War Sacrificed the First Victim of Globalization", which was reprinted by many overseas media.
On August 6, German website of European Times, German-Chinese Report website, RADIOWE website of Italy (facebook, twitter), Rainbow FM website of Lisbon, Portugal (facebook), Global Iberian client of Portugal, Bobo website of Rio headlines in Brazil (facebook), World Bobo website of Sao Paulo, Brazil (facebook), website of Business News of Kazakhstan, Turkish economic observation network, Turkish directional radio website, Indian Daily Morning News website, UAE Ain News website, Jordan Global Radio website, American Business Daily website, Canadian Business Daily website, Chinese PT portal, Chinese headline APP, Portuguese New Newspaper APP(facebook, twitter), Nordic Times website, European Chinese language website, European Chinese radio website, African Times website, West Africa online website, Japanese Chinese business website, Greek China website. On August 7, Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po also published this article. The main reports are as follows:
German cars sold to China have gone up in price!
China consumers haven’t said anything yet, and American blue-collar workers are beginning to feel anxious. This seemingly puzzling scene was staged in the context of the trade war provoked by the Trump administration. German cars have become the first victims of Trump’s tariff policy: the obvious victims are German car companies that set up factories in the United States, and the potential victims are the jobs of American auto workers.
Let’s restore the news facts first: On July 30th, German BMW Motor Company raised the sales prices of its two sports utility vehicles (SUVs) produced in the United States and exported to China in China by 4% and 7% respectively, because of the increased cost. As for the reason for the increase in cost, it is not difficult to find out: since the Trump administration launched a trade offensive to increase tariffs on many countries and lines, the price of global procurement parts for BMW cars made in the United States has risen. At the same time, as one of the counter-measures against the United States, China will impose a 25% tax on imported cars from the United States on the basis of the new 15% tariff, that is, a 40% tax. This means that in the future, the market share of American brand cars in China will be reduced due to price factors.
As early as the White House imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum on its major trading partners and started the first shot of a trade war, many people in the industry analyzed that automobiles and electronic products with a high degree of development in the global industrial chain may bear the brunt and become victims. Because the world’s large automobile manufacturers are all heavyweight multinational companies, setting up factories all over the world. According to the latest list published by Automotive News in June this year, in 2018, the top 100 global auto parts suppliers came from 17 countries including Germany, Japan, Canada, Spain, South Korea, Mexico and China. Each car involves tens of thousands of parts, from assembly to production off-line, which is inseparable from the precise division of labor and cooperation of suppliers from all countries in the global industrial chain.
The impact of this round of trade war on any small link in the automobile industry chain will disrupt the whole industry chain. This is the so-called "fire at the city gate will hurt the fish in the pool". The United States imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum products from other countries, and then many countries countered them, which affected major auto companies including GM and Ford, as well as BMW in Germany. The Financial Times pointed out that in fact, Donald Trump tore up international agreements that he thought would harm blue-collar voters in the United States in order to fulfill his campaign promise to bring jobs back to the United States, which actually began to destroy the world that automakers are familiar with.
Together with Trump, there may be jobs for American auto workers, that is, blue-collar voters, that he talks about protecting every day. Because the president of the United States let the "tariff bullet" sweep outside for a while, it was bounced back by the counter-produced steel plate, and it was the foreign car companies that set up factories in the United States and solved the employment problem of Americans who were injured. German company Daimler said that in 2017, 20% of its cars produced in the United States were sold to China. In the second quarter of 2018, due to Sino-US trade friction, its net profit decreased by 27%. If the tariff increase continues, it will reconsider its production layout, including the possibility of establishing a new factory in China.
Let’s look at BMW, which has built its world’s largest automobile factory in Sparthan Fort, South Carolina, USA. Now it has surpassed the local automobile brands in the United States and become the largest automobile export enterprise in the United States, employing 9,000 local employees. Around Fort Sparthan, there are more than 200 auto parts factories from more than 20 countries, and each factory has local employees. Last year, 70% of BMW cars produced by Sparthan Fort Factory were sold outside the United States, and about 25% were exported to China. The New York Times reported that BMW had written a letter to the US Department of Commerce, saying that if the cost of exporting American-made BMW SUVs was too high in the future, the company would consider reducing its investment and production scale in Fort Sparthan.
As the world’s largest automobile consumption market for nine consecutive years, China has always been a market favored by major automobile companies in various countries and unwilling to give up easily. The subtext of Mercedes-Benz and BMW is very clear, that is, if the trade war continues, it is inevitable to reduce production and lay off employees in the United States.
The Financial Times once quoted a professional as saying that the impact of the trade war on the global automobile industry was described as a "perfect storm". The "perfection" of the "storm" lies in that the slightest bit points to its opposite side, that is, a combination of various factors will bring a fatal blow to the global automobile industry. Again, the ball to stop the storm is in the hands of the White House. How to save our compatriots in the storm depends on whether it is willing to kick it out.
A number of overseas media forwarded "International Sharp Review" articles:
"European Times" German website forwarded on August 6, 2018
Italian RADIOWE website (facebook, Twitter) forwarded on August 6, 2018.
India’s "Daily Morning News" website was forwarded on August 6, 2018
UAE Ain News Network forwarded on August 6, 2018
Jordan Global Radio website forwarded on August 6, 2018
American Business Daily website forwarded on August 6, 2018
Canadian Business Daily website forwarded on August 6, 2018
Portuguese news APP(facebook, Twitter) forwarded on August 6, 2018.
Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao was published on August 7, 2018.
Hong Kong Wen Wei Po was published on August 7, 2018.