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The Trump administration has denied a General Motors Co request for an exemption to a 25 percent U.S. tariff on its Chinese-made Buick Envision sport utility vehicle.

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has denied a General Motors Co request for an exemption to a 25 percent U.S. tariff on its Chinese-made Buick Envision sport utility vehicle.

The denial of the nearly year-old petition came in a May 29 letter from the U.S. Trade Representative's office saying the request concerns "a product strategically important or related to 'Made in China 2025' or other Chinese industrial programs."

The midsize SUV, priced starting at about US$35,000, has become a target for critics of Chinese-made goods, including leaders of the United Auto Workers union and members in key political swing states such as Michigan and Ohio.

GM said it was aware of the denial and has been paying the tariff since July. GM has not raised the sticker price to account for the tariff. </s> The U.S. Trade Representative has denied a request by Volvo Cars for an exemption to 25 percent tariffs imposed on Chinese-made vehicles that are imported to the United States.

The denial came in a May 29 letter, according to news reports. Volvo had been seeking an exemption for its XC60 SUV.

The ruling is a moot point for Volvo because the automaker has already moved XC60 production for the U.S. market to its plant in Torslanda, Sweden.

The tariffs are on hold while China and the U.S. continue talks over trade disagreements.

Volvo had piggybacked on a similar request by General Motors for its Buick Envision sport-utility vehicle. U.S. officials also denied an exemption in that case.

The mid-size XC60 is one of Volvo's top sellers in the United States, with 11,758 units sold through the first five months of this year — a 4.6% increase over 2018. The vehicle is second only to the larger XC90 in terms of U.S. sales.

Volvo builds its S60 sedan at a $1.1 million manufacturing campus off Interstate 26 near Ridgeville. The automaker, based in Sweden and owned by China's Geely Holding Group, plans to add production of the XC90 at the Charleston-area plant by 2021, when employment at the site is expected to top 4,000 people. </s> WASHINGTON/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The United States has rejected separate requests from General Motors Co and Chinese-owned Volvo Cars for an exemption to a 25% U.S. tariff on their Chinese-made sport utility vehicle models.

FILE PHOTO: The GM logo is seen at the General Motors plant in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, January 22, 2019. REUTERS/Roosevelt Cassio

GM, the largest U.S. automaker, and Sweden’s Volvo both said they were aware of the respective denials of their nearly year-old petitions. Both companies had not raised the sticker price to account for tariffs, which came into play last July.

The denial of GM’s petition for its Buick Envision came in a May 29 letter from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office saying the request concerned “a product strategically important or related to ‘Made in China 2025’ or other Chinese industrial programs.”

The midsize SUV, with a starting price of about $35,000, has become a target for U.S. critics of Chinese-made goods, including leaders of the United Auto Workers union and members in key political swing states such as Michigan and Ohio.

Buick Envision sales fell in the United States by nearly 27% to 30,000 last year and fell another 21% in the first three months of 2019.

Only a small number of vehicles are built in China and sold in the United States.

Last month, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office also rejected a request by Volvo Cars for its mid-size XC60 SUVs, its top selling U.S. vehicle.

Volvo, which is owned by China’s Geely, had already last year begun switching production of U.S.-bound XC60s from China to Europe as part of a global shake up of production plans for most of its lineup in an effort to dodge tariffs.

A spokeswoman said the XC60 shift, Volvo’s biggest move to mitigate the impact of tariffs, was completed in the Spring, meaning Volvo was no longer paying tariffs on XC60 imports and would not see any fresh cost impact due to the rejection.

Volvo had argued in its exemption request that it could “anticipate” the XC60 would be eventually produced in its recently opened South Carolina plant, where it is building S60 sedans, but the spokeswoman said no decision had been taken.

“(New production setup) is a cost so that would of course depend on the permanence of tariffs and what the situation looks like going forward. It’s a continuous evaluation that we always do with the flexible manufacturing footprint,” she said.

Besides the shift, Volvo has also split production of its S60 luxury sport sedan between the two countries; altered some European production plans; and reduced shipments of its S90 sedan, which is only produced in China, to the United States.

U.S. retail sales for the S90 sedan this year to May were down 63.7 percent year on year, company data showed.

GM had argued in its request that Envision sales in China and the United States would generate funds “to invest in our U.S. manufacturing facilities and to develop the next generation of automotive technology in the United States.”

FILE PHOTO: General Motors Co. displays its U.S. version of the Buick Envision crossover, the first China-built car imported to the U.S. by a Detroit automaker, during a media event before the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, January 10, 2016. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

GM said last year the “vast majority” of Envisions, about 200,000 a year, are sold in China.

Because of the lower U.S. sales volume, “assembly in our home market is not an option” for the Envision, which competes with such mid-size crossover vehicles as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Cadillac XT5.

Ahead of the July 2018 start for higher import tariffs, GM shipped in a six-month supply of Envisions at the much lower 2.5 percent tariff rate, Reuters reported in August 2018. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration has denied a General Motors Co request for an exemption to a 25 percent U.S. tariff on its Chinese-made Buick Envision sport utility vehicle.

The denial of the nearly year-old petition came in a May 29 letter from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office saying the request concerns “a product strategically important or related to ‘Made in China 2025’ or other Chinese industrial programs.”

The midsize SUV, priced starting at about $35,000, has become a target for critics of Chinese-made goods, including leaders of the United Auto Workers union and members in key political swing states such as Michigan and Ohio.

GM said it was aware of the denial and has been paying the tariff since July. GM has not raised the sticker price to account for the tariff. </s> Washington/Stockholm — The US has rejected separate requests from General Motors (GM) and Chinese-owned Volvo Cars for an exemption to a 25% US tariff on their Chinese-made SUV models.

GM, the largest US vehicle maker, and Sweden’s Volvo both said they were aware of the respective denials of their nearly year-old petitions. Both companies have not raised the sticker price to account for tariffs, which came into play last July.

The denial of GM’s petition for its Buick Envision came in a May 29 letter from the US trade representative’s office saying the request concerned “a product strategically important or related to ‘Made in China 2025’ or other Chinese industrial programmes”.

The mid-size SUV, with a starting price of about $35,000, has become a target for US critics of Chinese-made goods, including leaders of the United Automobile Workers union and members in key political swing states, such as Michigan and Ohio.

Buick Envision sales fell in the US by nearly 27% to 30,000 in 2018 and fell another 21% in the first three months of 2019. Only a small number of vehicles are built in China and sold in the US.

In May, the US trade representative’s office also rejected a request by Volvo Cars for its mid-size XC60 SUVs, its top selling US vehicle.

Volvo, which is owned by China’s Geely, already began switching production of US-bound XC60s from China to Europe in 2018 as part of a global shake up of production plans for most of its line-up in an effort to dodge tariffs. </s> The GM logo is seen at the General Motors plant in Sao Jose dos Campos

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration has denied a General Motors Co request for an exemption to a 25 percent U.S. tariff on its Chinese-made Buick Envision sport utility vehicle.

The denial of the nearly year-old petition came in a May 29 letter from the U.S. Trade Representative's office saying the request concerns "a product strategically important or related to 'Made in China 2025' or other Chinese industrial programs."

The midsize SUV, priced starting at about $35,000, has become a target for critics of Chinese-made goods, including leaders of the United Auto Workers union and members in key political swing states such as Michigan and Ohio.

GM said on Tuesday it was aware of the denial and has been paying the tariff since July. GM has not raised the sticker price to account for the tariff.

Buick Envision sales fell in the United States by nearly 27% to 30,000 last year and fell another 21% in the first three months of 2019.

Only a small number of vehicles are built in China and sold in the United States.

Last month, the U.S. Trade Representative's Office also denied a request by Chinese-owned Volvo Cars for tariff exemptions for mid-size SUVs assembled in China after the automaker sought an exemption for the XC60, its top selling U.S. vehicle.

GM, the largest U.S. automaker, argued in its request that Envision sales in China and the United States would generate funds “to invest in our U.S. manufacturing facilities and to develop the next generation of automotive technology in the United States.”

GM said last year the “vast majority” of Envisions, about 200,000 a year, are sold in China.

Because of the lower U.S. sales volume, "assembly in our home market is not an option" for the Envision, which competes with such mid-size crossover vehicles as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Cadillac XT5.

Ahead of the July 2018 start for higher import tariffs, GM shipped in a six-month supply of Envisions at the much lower 2.5 percent tariff rate, Reuters reported in August 2018. </s> SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - China will steeply cut import tariffs for automobiles and car parts, the country’s finance ministry said on Tuesday, opening up greater access to the world’s largest auto market amid an easing of trade tensions with the United States.

Import tariffs will be cut to 15 percent for most vehicles from 25 percent from July 1, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement, adding this was part of efforts to open up China’s markets and spur development of the local auto sector. A small number of imported trucks are taxed at 20 percent currently.

China pledged last month to open up its auto market, announcing a timeline to remove long-standing caps on foreign ownership of automotive ventures and saying it would cut tariffs on imported cars soon.

The move will boost overseas carmakers, especially those that import premium-end cars to China such as Germany’s BMW (BMWG.DE), electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and Daimler AG’s (DAIGn.DE) Mercedes-Benz.

Import tariffs for auto parts would be cut to 6 percent from mostly around 10 percent, the ministry said.

China’s high tariff on vehicles - versus a 2.5 percent U.S. levy - has been a key focus of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration amid a simmering trade standoff between Washington and Beijing.

Trump has said previously the 25 percent tariff amounted to “stupid trade”, while auto industry leaders such as Tesla’s Elon Musk have said that Chinese restrictions on foreign auto makers created a skewed playing field.

China and the United States, however, made a breakthrough in trade talks after negotiations in Washington last week, stepping back from the brink of a global trade war and agreeing to hold further talks to boost U.S. exports to China.
The United States rejects separate requests from General Motors and Chinese-owned Volvo Cars for an exemption to the new 25 percent tariffs on their Chinese-made sport utility vehicle models.