All Policy and regulation articles – Page 27
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Standoff between the US and Turkey raises questions for OEMs
The collapse in the value of the Turkish lira and the political stand-off between Turkey and the US have some potentially serious consequences for the continued growth of the automotive sector in the country.Car and light van production in Turkey has grown steadily in recent years, to around 1.4-1.5m vehicles ...
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Spanish authorities impose fines at Vigo
Spain’s National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) has imposed fines on five stevedoring companies and five port unions for colluding to restrict competition at the port of Vigo and keep prices unnaturally high.The CNMC said their collusion had prevented the loading and unloading of finished vehicles from vessels other ...
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Anu Goel: the highs and lows
What have been some of the high points in logistics in your career?One is the swing toward providing a level of service that customers expect, as opposed to providing a level of service that we either think they need or that the system can provide. Those are two different ...
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Battling a perfect storm
The finished vehicle sector in North America is dealing with a lot of challenges at the moment. There is a basic imbalance in the number of vehicles that the US imports and exports with its global trading partners, which contributes to ongoing problems involving congestion and limited capacity on hinterland ...
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Caterpillar highlights rising costs
Supply chain expenses, materials prices and tariffs all conspired to raise costs for US heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar in the second quarter of this year, the company has reported.Despite revealing that net profits more than doubled in the period to $1.71 billion from $802m a year ago while turnover rose ...
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Exports prop up UK car production despite trade uncertainty
The number of cars made in the UK fell by 5.5% to 128,799 last month, with domestic demand plummeting by 47.2% to 15,647, according to figures from the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). However, production was bolstered by a 6% rise in exports to 113,152 units, with almost ...
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Vehicle makers grapple with cost of trade wars
Carmakers are faced with shifting production, higher purchase costs, lower profits and the possibility of raising the price of their products as a consequence of the continuing global trade conflict.Volvo Cars of Sweden is shifting production of its XC60 SUV for the US market from China to Europe to avoid ...
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EEU hits vehicle makers with revised rates
Carmakers with assembly plants in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus are now unable to export finished vehicles duty free within the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), because the localisation rate has increased.Previously, almost all Russian carmakers, as well as those foreign carmakers with plants in the region, were registered on the EEU’s ...
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Nafta Survey
Signed 24 years ago, the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) was designed to remove barriers to business between the US, Mexico and Canada, creating the world’s largest free-trade area. Since then, the economies of its three members have been on an upward curve, US and Canadian consumers have benefitted ...
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A rising tide – with political undercurrents
Mexican production and exports continued to grow through 2017, both to the US and globally. At the same time, US sales remained strong and were fed by an increase in imports from established and emerging markets. It is only in Canada that both sales and assembly are showing a decline. ...
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Pasha sees positive drivers at the ports
Pasha Automotive Services (PAS) processed a total of more than 448,600 vehicle units across its four port terminal facilities in the US through 2017 for around 17 customers. The company, which is part of the wider Pasha Group, has operations on the US west coast at the ports of Grays ...
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Industry welcomes Brexit white paper but calls for more clarity on trade
Representatives of the UK automotive industry have welcomed a government white paper on Brexit proposing an economic partnership when the UK leaves the European Union. The paper outlines how the UK wants to establish a new free trade area to replace the Single Market and maintain the movement of goods ...
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When will services be back on track?
The state of the rail freight service in the US has been a leading topic of conversation for several months within vehicle supply chains, with discussions still ongoing between OEMs and rail providers. Questions around the availability of capacity and transit delays that have disrupted the timing of finished vehicle ...
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JLR threatens to pull investment over ‘bad’ Brexit
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has warned its plans to invest £80 billion ($105 billion) over the next five years in the UK are in jeopardy, due to continuing uncertainty over the terms of the nation’s exit from the EU.Brexit could erode more than £1.2 billion from JLR’s bottom line each ...
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Russia's fresh focus on exports
In recent years, Russia has put considerable resources into encouraging recovery in its domestic automotive industry. Last year, the federal budget included 62.3 billion roubles ($1 billion) in state aid for carmakers. Such sums have been spent primarily on boosting demand in the domestic market, which has been under pressure ...
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Trump’s tariffs attract worldwide disapproval
Carmakers, parts manufacturers, trade bodies and the European Union have all sharply criticised the Trump administration’s proposed import tariffs on vehicles and auto parts.Hinting at potential supply chain disruption, Toyota said: “There is no vehicle [made] in the United States … that is sole-sourced from exclusively US parts and components.”The ...
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Higher tariffs to hit Daimler’s earnings
Increased Chinese import duties on US-made cars and other setbacks have forced Daimler to lower earnings expectations for this year, despite record sales.“The decisive factor is that at Mercedes-Benz Cars fewer-than-expected SUV sales and higher-than-expected costs – not completely passed on to the customers – must be assumed because of ...
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Russia on its way to join the global automotive trade war
The Russian government is considering protective duties against US finished vehicles according to Maxim Oreshkin, Russia’s economic development minister (pictured). Oreshkin held a press conference in Moscow on June 25 and said the country could introduce duties ranging between 18% and 20% in response to the US decision to raise ...
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Brexit’s unaccustomed burdens
Nine months before the UK’s planned departure from the European Union, uncertainty over customs arrangements is emerging as one of the major concerns of manufacturers – perhaps just as much, if not more so, than the prospect of tariffs and taxes. The risks and impacts from delays in logistics flows ...
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SMMT calls for end to Brexit uncertainty
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has joined major manufacturers in calling for the British government to end uncertainty over the UK’s trading relationship with the European Union after Brexit, and to ensure the frictionless flow of parts and vehicles. Speaking at a press conference during the SMMT’s ...