China is working on a "substantial" cut on the tariff on imported cars, an official said today, amid an escalating trade dispute with the US. President Xi Jinping had earlier this month had promised to cut import tariffs on automobiles and ease restrictions on foreign ownership in the country's auto industry as soon as possible.
"We will publish (the new tariffs) as soon as possible after finalizing the details," Chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Chen Yin said at a press conference.
China has lowered auto tariffs multiple times since 1986, with the tax rate coming down from 220 percent to the current 25 percent. The number of imported cars also witnessed an increase of 16.8 percent, year on year, to 1.22 million in 2017.
"We will scrap caps on foreign shares of new energy vehicle producers this year, and on the makers of commercial and passenger vehicles in 2020 and 2022 respectively," Chen said, adding foreign investors will also be allowed to set up more than two joint ventures.
China has decided to open sectors from banking to auto manufacturing, including manufacturing of ships and planes, and rolled out an array of measures to increase imports.
US President Donald Trump has asked China to reduce its trade surplus by USD 100 billion, cut tariffs on cars and stop forced technology transfers by foreign corporations, among other things. He had also threatened to levy some USD 150 billion of tariffs against China.
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