July 13, 2018There is ample academic research—much of it undertaken at U.S. institutions and financed by U.S. research funds—that shows that free trade is beneficial to countries. Firstly, it raises the productivity of firms, enhancing a country’s competitiveness and growth. Secondly, by increasing the variety and availability of reasonably... Read more
July 13, 2018There is ample academic research—much of it undertaken at U.S. institutions and financed by U.S. research funds—that shows that free trade is beneficial to countries. Firstly, it raises the productivity of firms, enhancing a country’s competitiveness and growth. Secondly, by increasing the variety and availability of reasonably priced goods. Finally, it increases national security. The deeper the economic ties from trade and integrated value chains, the more costly conflict would be, and therefore the more unlikely to occur.
It is true that free trade could temporarily produce losers in each country as part of the structural change processes in modernizing economies. Imposing barriers to trade, however, is not the best way to help them. Instead, remaining an open, reliable partner for business and an attractive place for foreign investment will lead to a rebirth of regional/geographical areas that have fallen behind. This is well illustrated by BMW’s history of investment in the United States, and in upstate South Carolina in particular—a region that had well and truly fallen behind in the years prior to BMW’s arrival.
BMW directly and indirectly adds $6.3 billion annually to South Carolina’s economy and leads to the employment of 36,285 people there. Last year, we announced a $600 million investment in our South Carolina plant, which will create 1,000 new jobs. Our BMW plant in South Carolina is now the largest facility in our global production network. The overall footprint in the U.S. is even larger, with value added by BMW of $15.77 billion and employment of 120,855 people. A 2017 study by the University of South Carolina finds that for every 10 jobs that are directly generated at a U.S. BMW facility, an additional 90 jobs are created elsewhere in the U.S. economy as a direct result of these BMW jobs.
BMW has proven to be a trusted and valued partner for local law enforcement and the armed services within the United States. In additional to sales of motorcycles to numerous local law enforcement agencies across the United States, BMW has a multi-year contract with the Los Angeles Police Department to provide several hundred electric vehicles for official LAPD use. Additionally, this year BMW became the first premium automotive brand to open a workshop and training program for military service members directly on a U.S. military base. The BMW Military Service Technician Education Program (BMW MSTEP) at Camp Pendleton will provide new career opportunities for service members transitioning from military service to civilian life. It should be noted that any tariff action which has a material negative impact on BMW could have a residual negative impact on these initiatives and partnerships.
While we do not think that threatening to impose supplemental U.S. duties is the most effective way to achieve this goal, we do support the effort to reduce trade barriers of all kinds. BMW has long supported the reduction of the EU automotive tariffs through bilateral negotiations, as we pay these duties on ~100,000 automobiles we manufacture in South Carolina and export to the EU each year. In 2015, our then Chairman of the Board of BMW Group, Dr. Norbert Reithofer, put this on record, stating, “If we remove tariff and non-tariff barriers [between the U.S. and the EU]—that is, import duties and unnecessary bureaucratic and regulatory differences—the result will be economic opportunities.”
Removing both U.S. and EU automotive duties entirely is in the best interest of German auto manufacturers, as it would save them an estimated €1 billion per year.3 We expect similar savings would be realized by U.S. auto manufacturers as well. We also note that the EU has not shown itself to be particularly committed to preserving these tariffs. Reducing the EU automotive tariffs was frequently cited as the low-hanging fruit to be claimed through the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
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