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1 week ago
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Source: AFP
The dour temper astatine Germany's crisis-hit car elephantine Volkswagen has fixed mode to angst and fury arsenic US President Donald Trump has escalated a commercialized warfare against friends and foes alike.
Veteran car workers who spent decades astatine the plants of Germany's storied concern titan fearfulness for the worst since Trump has ramped up a scope of import tariffs, sparking planetary marketplace turmoil.
"A catastrophe, terrible," said retired VW autoworker Richard Arnold, 85, expressing a sentiment wide shared successful Wolfsburg, wherever the carmaker is headquartered and which is dominated by the fume stacks of its ain powerfulness plant.
A seasoned of Europe's biggest car manufacturer, Arnold predicted that "America volition endure conscionable arsenic overmuch with the terms increases" sparked by Trump's assertive commercialized policies.
Volkswagen -- which has been battered for years by precocious energy and labour costs arsenic good arsenic stiff contention from China, particularly successful electrical vehicles -- announced successful December, aft a bitter, months-long concern dispute, that it would chopped astir 35,000 jobs by 2030.
Last week Trump, who has agelong railed against the show of imported German cars connected American streets, gave automakers successful Europe's biggest system different headache erstwhile helium slapped 25-percent tariffs connected car imports.
The US president followed up with a baseline tariff of 10 percent connected worldwide imports, and other levies connected dozens of countries exporting much to the United States than they buy.
The car manufacture is simply a flagship assemblage successful Europe's biggest economy, and the United States was past twelvemonth the apical importer of the country's cars, receiving astir 13 percent of Germany's shipments.
Volkswagen -- a 10-brand radical which besides includes Audi and Porsche arsenic good arsenic Seat and Skoda -- sold conscionable implicit 1 cardinal vehicles successful North America past year, 12 percent of its income by volume.
The institution has truthful acold been restrained successful its response, with a Volkswagen spokesperson telling AFP that the carmaker was assessing its options.
"We person our dealers' and customers' champion interests astatine heart, and erstwhile we person quantified the interaction connected the concern we volition stock our strategy with our dealers," helium said.
'Nonsense, idiocy'
Source: AFP
But different retired VW worker, Friedhelm Wolf, 70, was acold much outspoken.
"Absolute nonsense ... really conscionable idiocy," helium fumed. "The antheral successful the White House doesn't cognize what he's doing."
Now, Wolf said, it's clip "to hold and see" however the struggle pans out.
"Well, you can archetypal effort to negotiate," helium said. "And if that doesn't help, you conscionable person to rise the tariffs.
"The occupation is, we don't bargain that galore cars made successful the USA."
He pointed retired that Volkswagen has agelong employed thousands of workers astatine plants successful Tennessee and Puebla, Mexico.
"VW doesn't conscionable marque Volkswagens present successful Germany, they besides manufacture successful the USA. They besides person a works successful the United States and 1 successful Mexico," said Wolf.
"Vehicles are imported from Mexico to the USA, and besides parts that US vehicles request travel from Mexico," helium added.
"So, it volition decidedly go much costly for American consumers."
Citing a Volkswagen memo to dealers successful the United States, commercialized work Automotive News has reported that the shaper planned to adhd an "import fee" to cars it ships into the country.
Volkswagen besides indicated it would intermission obstruction shipments of vehicles made successful Mexico to the United States, Automotive News said, successful a study not yet confirmed by the company.
Another 85-year-old VW veteran, who lone gave his sanction arsenic Nicky, voiced acheronian fears astir the interaction of it each connected VW's existent workforce.
Source: AFP
"Those who are inactive moving don't adjacent cognize what's going to travel their way," helium told AFP.
He said the EU had projected a zero-tariff authorities with the United States, "but it's not being accepted".
This, Nicky said, could spark a transatlantic tit-for-tat conflict "which volition escalate things .... It's a catastrophe astatine the moment."
Thorsten Groeger of commercialized national IG Metall said that for VW's car production, "the proportionality exported to the USA is comparatively high, and Volkswagen employees stock these concerns arsenic well".
He called connected German politicians and car companies to bash immoderate they tin to guarantee that the workers' jobs enactment safe.
"Trump's policies indispensable not beryllium allowed to pb to German colleagues having to fearfulness for their jobs."
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Source: AFP
