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Toyota Will Be Winner w/ TPP; U.S. Auto Industry Big Loser; Toyota Spent Millions Lobbying for TPP
Toyota donated hugely to Clinton Foundation:Among the other corporate donors to the Clinton Foundation are these:
$1m-$5m: Anheuser-Busch, Duke Energy, ExxonMobil, Hewlett Packard, Humana, Microsoft, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Dow Chemical, Boeing, the Walmart Foundation (as well as the Walton Family Foundation),
Toyota,
$1m-$5m: Anheuser-Busch, Duke Energy, ExxonMobil, Hewlett Packard, Humana, Microsoft, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Dow Chemical, Boeing, the Walmart Foundation (as well as the Walton Family Foundation),
Toyota,
https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2015/03/10/hillary-clinton-s-philanthropic-controversy-the-clinton-foundation/
and, Toyota spent millions lobbying for TPP :
In 2015, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association paid lobbyists tens of thousands of dollars "to promote cooperation on U.S.-Japan auto trade issues" and "to prevent the imposition of discriminatory non-market mechanisms," lobbying records show.
In 2013, Toyota poured more than $1 million into lobbying that in part aimed to influence TPP negotiations along the same vague lines: "preventing imposition of market-distorting trade policies."
This year, Toyota Motor Corporation's spending on lobbyists rose to more than $3 million, including $1.7 million on trade matters like the TPP negotiations and preventing "market-distorting trade policies."
In the 2014 election cycle, Toyota Motor North America contributed $284,500 to federal candidates and parties, 43.6 percent to Democrats and 56.4 percent to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
http://www.ibtimes.com/trans-pacific-partnership-winners-toyota-japanese-automakers-could-still-use-mostly-2127095
The TPP will devastate the U.S. Auto Industry, for many reasons. Even tweaking the rules of origin clauses will not help.
U.S. Parts Suppliers will be hit hard:
the issue will be whether imported Japanese auto parts, benefiting from an elimination of a 2.5 percent tariff, replace Mexican and Canadian imported and U.S.-produced auto parts now on retailer shelves. Mexican and Canadian auto parts already come in duty free as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
U.S. auto parts imports from Japan last year totaled $14.5 billion, down 2.3 percent, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Parts imports from Mexico were up 11 percent, to $46.6 billion, and imports from Canada up 6 percent, to $17.4 billion.
Not only will Japanese imports be cheaper because of the immediate elimination of that 2.5 percent tariff, they will be able to lower their prices further as a result of generous "rules of origin" which determine how much of an imported product can be sourced outside the TPP country doing the importing.
.... Japan's automakers, including Toyota Motor Corporation.... one of the clearer winners in a deal that probably will let it manufacture U.S.-bound cars with parts bought elsewhere in Asia and still enjoy the TPP's tariff reductions. In fact, Toyota and Japanese auto industry groups lobbied heavily on that very issue for years, records show.
The question of "rules of origin" for auto parts had been a stumbling block in discussions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership until the end of September, when Mexican and Canadian negotiators appeared to relent and allow the majority of a vehicle's parts to be sourced from outside the 12 countries that are parties to the regional trade deal.
Those negotiators ultimately aimed for 45 percent of auto parts to be bought locally, while Japanese negotiators had sought a 32.5 percent floor for local parts, Reuters reported. Because the final text of the deal has not been published, the ultimate percentage remains unclear. But either option would allow for the majority of a vehicle's components to be sourced from outside TPP countries.
snip
U.S. lawmakers have pushed back against provisions allowing car companies to source a significant percentage of their parts from other nations. Reductions in rule of origin standards in the TPP "would hurt American workers and manufacturers..... citing reports of a 45 percent rule of origin for auto parts. By comparison, the North America Free Trade Agreement requires a vehicle to be manufactured with 62.5 percent regional parts.
Japan in recent years has come under financial pressure to source car parts from China, where suppliers are less expensive and the quality of those parts has improved. In 2013, for instance, the Japanese car company Nissan's vehicles were 15 to 20 percent made with Chinese parts, and it had set its sights on increasing that to 35 percent, Reuters reported.
Continuing to buy more parts from China could help keep costs down for these companies, and the Japanese car companies have pushed hard to preserve their ability to rely on such parts while benefiting from tariff reductions offered in the TPP.
- See more at: http://www.searchautoparts.com/aftermarket-business/opinion-commentary-distribution/potential-winners-losers-trans-pacific-partners#sthash.WtiUP2eW.dpuf
http://www.ibtimes.com/trans-pacific-partnership-winners-toyota-japanese-automakers-could-still-use-mostly-2127095
Democrat Carl Levin announced he opposes the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement for four key reasons — three of which highlight his concern about how a deal could affect the auto industry, and manufacturing more generally, in the U.S. Levin represents a district in the suburbs of Detroit where the “Big Three” automakers and the manufacturers that supply them are major employers.
At a roundtable with reporters Thursday, Levin said the deal’s disciplines on labor, investment, currency manipulation and rules for automobile manufacturing are “wholly inadequate” and don’t do enough to improve the country’s model for international trade agreements.
“I worked hard, worked with others, listened to others,” to try shaping the deal and ultimately come to a decision, he said. “I’ve now concluded that the TPP as negotiated is short of an acceptable outcome, and I do not support it.”
snip
There’s another problem. Although the administration negotiated a side deal with TPP finance ministries intended on curbing currency manipulation, Levin said it’s not enough to convince him that countries such as Japan will be dissuaded from devaluing their currencies to boost exports at the expense of U.S. jobs.
He even complained that the deal with Korea, which he supported, has been disappointing in the nearly four years since it went into effect because Seoul’s alleged currency manipulation has prevented U.S. automakers from penetrating the Korean market.
“I kind of stuck my neck out. I said, ‘Let’s try to make an agreement with Korea work,’” he said. “Most of the benefit, if not all of the benefit, was wiped out by Korea’s currency manipulation. And so today, Korea’s auto market remains almost as closed as when we negotiated the agreement.”
U.S. auto parts imports from Japan last year totaled $14.5 billion, down 2.3 percent, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Parts imports from Mexico were up 11 percent, to $46.6 billion, and imports from Canada up 6 percent, to $17.4 billion.
Not only will Japanese imports be cheaper because of the immediate elimination of that 2.5 percent tariff, they will be able to lower their prices further as a result of generous "rules of origin" which determine how much of an imported product can be sourced outside the TPP country doing the importing.
.... Japan's automakers, including Toyota Motor Corporation.... one of the clearer winners in a deal that probably will let it manufacture U.S.-bound cars with parts bought elsewhere in Asia and still enjoy the TPP's tariff reductions. In fact, Toyota and Japanese auto industry groups lobbied heavily on that very issue for years, records show.
The question of "rules of origin" for auto parts had been a stumbling block in discussions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership until the end of September, when Mexican and Canadian negotiators appeared to relent and allow the majority of a vehicle's parts to be sourced from outside the 12 countries that are parties to the regional trade deal.
Those negotiators ultimately aimed for 45 percent of auto parts to be bought locally, while Japanese negotiators had sought a 32.5 percent floor for local parts, Reuters reported. Because the final text of the deal has not been published, the ultimate percentage remains unclear. But either option would allow for the majority of a vehicle's components to be sourced from outside TPP countries.
snip
U.S. lawmakers have pushed back against provisions allowing car companies to source a significant percentage of their parts from other nations. Reductions in rule of origin standards in the TPP "would hurt American workers and manufacturers..... citing reports of a 45 percent rule of origin for auto parts. By comparison, the North America Free Trade Agreement requires a vehicle to be manufactured with 62.5 percent regional parts.
Japan in recent years has come under financial pressure to source car parts from China, where suppliers are less expensive and the quality of those parts has improved. In 2013, for instance, the Japanese car company Nissan's vehicles were 15 to 20 percent made with Chinese parts, and it had set its sights on increasing that to 35 percent, Reuters reported.
Continuing to buy more parts from China could help keep costs down for these companies, and the Japanese car companies have pushed hard to preserve their ability to rely on such parts while benefiting from tariff reductions offered in the TPP.
- See more at: http://www.searchautoparts.com/aftermarket-business/opinion-commentary-distribution/potential-winners-losers-trans-pacific-partners#sthash.WtiUP2eW.dpuf
http://www.ibtimes.com/trans-pacific-partnership-winners-toyota-japanese-automakers-could-still-use-mostly-2127095
Democrat Carl Levin announced he opposes the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement for four key reasons — three of which highlight his concern about how a deal could affect the auto industry, and manufacturing more generally, in the U.S. Levin represents a district in the suburbs of Detroit where the “Big Three” automakers and the manufacturers that supply them are major employers.
At a roundtable with reporters Thursday, Levin said the deal’s disciplines on labor, investment, currency manipulation and rules for automobile manufacturing are “wholly inadequate” and don’t do enough to improve the country’s model for international trade agreements.
“I worked hard, worked with others, listened to others,” to try shaping the deal and ultimately come to a decision, he said. “I’ve now concluded that the TPP as negotiated is short of an acceptable outcome, and I do not support it.”
snip
There’s another problem. Although the administration negotiated a side deal with TPP finance ministries intended on curbing currency manipulation, Levin said it’s not enough to convince him that countries such as Japan will be dissuaded from devaluing their currencies to boost exports at the expense of U.S. jobs.
He even complained that the deal with Korea, which he supported, has been disappointing in the nearly four years since it went into effect because Seoul’s alleged currency manipulation has prevented U.S. automakers from penetrating the Korean market.
“I kind of stuck my neck out. I said, ‘Let’s try to make an agreement with Korea work,’” he said. “Most of the benefit, if not all of the benefit, was wiped out by Korea’s currency manipulation. And so today, Korea’s auto market remains almost as closed as when we negotiated the agreement.”
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