Ford CEO, Trump administration officials talk about US-China automaker joint venture: According to reports, Ford CEO Jim Farley has discussed with Trump administration officials the anticipated framework that would allow Chinese automakers to produce cars in the US while simultaneously providing some protection to domestic automakers.
Last month, the senior executive met with members of the Trump Cabinet, according to a Bloomberg story that quoted people familiar with the discussions.
The conversations involved Chinese automakers working with US companies through joint ventures in which the US companies would hold the majority stake, according to the people cited in the paper.
According to the article, the joint ventures would have a structure that would allow the US and Chinese partners to share technology and profits.
Due to the lack of a firm decision, the talks are still in the early stages and are informal. A structure like that would be comparable to what China demanded of Western automakers approximately thirty years ago, when they were required to collaborate with Chinese automakers in order to establish facilities in China.
The talks take place as Chinese manufacturers are gradually making their way to the US market, Canada has announced plans to allow select Chinese automakers to enter the country, and BYD vehicles are becoming more and more well-liked throughout Mexico.
According to Bloomberg, Farley met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to discuss the issue during last month’s Detroit Auto Show.
The Bloomberg story claims that Ford’s talks were intended to safeguard American interests in the event that Chinese automakers were successful in breaking into the US market, not to advance the realization of the joint ventures.
The cabinet officials, however, gave it a frigid greeting since they believed that Washington would not view the issue favorably.
Notably, some administration officials believe that Trump’s scheduled April meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing may result in an investment agreement of that kind.
After Trump stated in January that he might be amenable to letting Chinese automakers enter the US provided they established plants and employed Americans, there has been opposition in the domestic auto business.
According to the Bloomberg story quoting one of the persons, GM Motors, for instance, has informed the Trump administration that it is against a Chinese entry into the automobile sector.
According to GM, a flow of parts from China might have a disastrous impact on North American suppliers and cause current businesses to lose market share.
Trump’s cabinet as a whole believes that the US should keep Chinese automakers out of the US market, and GM’s objection reflects this sentiment.
Farley has also issued a warning, calling China’s high-tech, low-cost automobiles a “existential menace.”
Compared to what I observe in the west, their prices and car quality are far higher.
At the Aspen Ideas Festival last summer, Farley disclosed that he had traveled to China six times in the previous year, saying, “Their cost, their quality of their vehicles is way superior to what I see in the west.” “We compete with China on a global scale, and it goes beyond EVs. And we will not have a future at Ford if we lose this.
