Ford Kills Plan to Sell Chinese-Made Vehicle in US

Ford Motor Co has abruptly killed a plan to sell a Chinese-made small vehicle in the United States because of the prospect of higher US tariffs, head of the automaker’s North American operations said Friday. The automaker’s decision came as US President Donald Trump is escalating a trade battle with China, threatening to impose duties on another $200 billion in Chinese goods, Reuters reported. The Trump administration has already imposed duties on Chinese-made vehicles of up to 25%. Trump is separately evaluating a proposal to impose tariffs on all imported vehicles on national security grounds. The Chinese-made Focus Active, which Ford calls a crossover, would have been a niche vehicle for the United States, and the decision to abandon plans to launch it in the US market next year will not cost jobs or have a significant impact on the automaker’s US sales, Ford North America chief Kumar Galhotra told reporters during a conference call on Friday.