Trump says China will cut tariffs on US made cars

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that China had agreed to cut import tariffs on American-made cars, a potential boon for automakers including Tesla Inc. and BMW who manufacture in the United States for export to China.

Trump, fresh from agreeing to a 90-day cease-fire in his trade war with China at the meeting of the G20, said on Twitter that “China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40%.”

The move, if realized, would bolster U.S. car manufacturers who were hit hard when China ramped up levies on U.S.-made cars in July as part of a broad package of retaliatory tariffs amid a sprawling trade war between Washington and Beijing.

China, the world’s largest auto market, raised tariffs on U.S. auto imports to 40 percent in July, forcing many carmakers to hike prices in a major hit to the roughly $10 billion worth of passenger vehicles the United States sent to China last year.

Trump’s tweet did not give any further detail about the tariff cuts, such as when the deal had been reached or a new level for the Chinese levies.

The White House and U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Sunday. China’s commerce and finance ministries did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

After a two and a half hour dinner with Xi on Saturday in Buenos Aires, Trump agreed to postpone an increase in the tariff rate on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent that was scheduled for January 1. China agreed to resume purchases of some U.S. farm and energy commodities.

The two sides also agreed to negotiate during the next 90 days over “structural changes” to China’s policies on technology transfers, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions, and cyber theft, services, and agriculture.

The lower tariffs would be a boost to automakers exporting vehicles to China, including Ford and German carmaker BMW, which exports U.S.-built luxury vehicles to China.

It would also be good news for Tesla, which has been hit hard by increased tariffs on the electric cars it imports to China.