Chicken Tax

Current Negotiations Could End 'Chicken Tax'

PUTC wrote:

President Obama recently visited four Asian countries to discuss, among other issues, the status of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. While most of the TPP issues were not a big deal to the pickup truck market, the continuing debate over the "chicken tax" is a huge deal. To briefly recap, the chicken tax is one of the most significant international tariffs the U.S. has imposed in the last 50 years. If it goes away, it could fundamentally change the truck market in North America by opening a floodgate for new compact and midsize truck offerings.

Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations

The trade pact aims to cut tariffs and set common standards on a slew of trade items between as many as 12 different nations. And depending on how you slice it, these countries cover more than 30 percent of the global economy. Currently, the holdup is centered on differences between Japan and the U.S. Negotiators are working hard to overcome these differences.

"We understand the challenges," U.S. trade representative Michael Froman said about talks with Japan, according to Businessweek. "These changes relate to fundamental reforms and the market opening of sectors in Japan that have traditionally been closed."

In the end, many believe the globalization of the auto industry and the proliferation of platform sharing (see the One Ford Plan and the global Mustang and Ranger) means the chicken tax may not be as important or beneficial as it once was. However, it still has a significant impact on the North American truck segment. With trade negotiators pushing for the TPP to be done by year's end, meaning the tax could potentially go away in the next two years, we could be looking at a dramatically changing truck landscape for the pickup customer. Will we be driving a Ford Ranger in the U.S. sometime soon?

Check out the rest of the story at PickupTrucks.com

GM and FIAT are greatly expanding in China...got to sell pot metal chop suey's those somewhere.