German vice chancellor urges calm after Trump’s call for auto tax
NAN-F-22
Tax
Berlin, Jan. 16, 2017 (dpa/NAN) Germany’s Vice Chancellor on Monday urged for calmness after U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatened German car makers operating in Mexico with a 35 per cent tax on every car shipped to the U.S.
“Considering such positions, I can only advise not to panic.
“However, rather to wait and see what happens,” Sigmar Gabriel, who is also the minister for economic affairs said.
Trump warned against German automakers building manufacturing plants in Mexico and said he would support a 35 per cent import tax on vehicles brought to the .U.S.
Trump who has touted a nativist agenda for business and industry, advised German car giant BMW to drop plans to open a Mexico plant in 2019 and instead set up shop in the U.S.
He also bemoaned that the German automotive industry has a “one-way street” relationship with the U.S., noting that there are a lot of Mercedes sold in the U.S.
“Germans don’t buy a lot of Chevrolets.’’
Gabriel countered Trump’s demands to see more U.S.-made cars on German streets by saying: “then the U.S. has to make better cars.” (dpa/NAN)
(Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Julius Enehikhuere)