China to Export Trumpchi Cars to U.S., Maybe With a New Name

China to Export Trumpchi Cars to U.S., Maybe With a New Name
Yu Jun, the president of GAC Motor, said in an interview on Friday
that the company planned to export electric cars to the United States and Europe as well as gasoline-powered vehicles.
In recent discussions with Tesla, the American electric car company
that wants to build a wholly owned factory in a Shanghai free trade zone, Chinese officials have been looking into possibly reducing the tariff as well, two people familiar with the discussions said.
China’s auto industry has grown into the world’s largest, producing more cars each year than the United States
and Japan combined, while shielded from imports by the highest trade barriers by far of any major car market.
GAC officials, for their part, say Trumpchi sounds in Chinese a little like “passing on happiness.” Any decision
on whether to change the brand’s name would be announced at the Detroit auto show in January, Mr. Yu said.
China charges a 25 percent tax on imported cars, compared with 2.5 percent in the United States.
But in statements over the past two weeks, the government has said that it may relax that rule somewhat for electric cars made in foreign trade zones.