May 9, 2012

Here Comes the Made-in-China Cadillac

By Howard Richman and Raymond Richman
It's déjà vu all over again!  GM again caves to Chinese pressure.  In September it was the electric car.  In April it was the Cadillac. The Chinese government made its latest move in December.  That's when The Guardian reported that the Chinese government raised its already high 25% tariff upon American-made vehicles, concerned that increasing numbers of big-engine cars were being purchased by Chinese consumers: General Motors faces the greatest impact, almost 22% extra on some sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and other cars with engine capacities above 2.5 litres. Chrysler faces a 15% penalty, while a 2% levy will be imposed on BMW, whose US plants make many of the cars it exports to China. Existing taxes and duties already push up the cost of US imports by 25%, and the new levies make it even more expensive for Chinese consumers to buy American. Now we learn what they were after.  In a May 2 Huffington Post commentary ("Commies in Cadillacs: GM Turns...(Read Full Article)