USTR Will Examine How to 'Equalize' China-US Car Tariffs

China used to levy a 25 percent tariff on the BMWs, Mercedeses, Lincolns and Teslas its dealers imported from the U.S., but it recently dropped tariffs on other countries' cars by 10 percentage points, and hiked tariffs on American autos to 40 percent. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, in a late-afternoon announcement Nov. 28, said that's not fair. “China’s policies are especially egregious with respect to automobile tariffs," he said. "Currently, China imposes a tariff of 40 percent on U.S. automobiles. This is more than double the rate of 15 percent that China imposes on its other trading partners, and approximately one and a half times higher than the 27.5 percent tariff that the United States currently applies to Chinese-produced automobiles." He said that at the president's direction, "I will examine all available tools to equalize the tariffs applied to automobiles."