U.S.-China Trade Fight Puts German Automakers in the Crosshairs

China's threat to retaliate against U.S. tariffs by socking American car imports with an additional 25 percent fee would have a bigger impact on Germany's Daimler AG and BMW AG than on Detroit automakers, according to analysts at Evercore ISI."This is essentially a tax on southern German auto, specifically BMW and Mercedes SUVs, which are built in the U.S. and exported to China," said Arndt Ellinghorst, an analyst with Evercore ISI.While Elon Musk's Tesla will be hard hit, other U.S. automakers have already shifted production to China, and export far fewer cars to the world's biggest market. Volkswagen AG too makes most of its Chinese-sold cars locally.   Continue reading...