Volkswagen CEO meets top U.S. trade official as Mexico tariffs loom: sources

By David Shepardson

作者：David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Herbert Diess met on Monday with the top U.S. trade official, a week before new tariffs are set to hit imported Mexican vehicles, two people briefed on the matter said.

华盛顿（路透社） - 大众汽车股份公司首席执行官赫伯特·迪斯周一与美国最高贸易官员举行会谈，新关税设定前一周据两位知情人士介绍说，打击进口的墨西哥车辆。

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would begin imposing tariffs on all Mexican made goods starting at 5% on June 10. The tariffs would rise from there, hitting 25% on Oct. 1 “unless Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory,” Trump said.

上周，美国总统唐纳德特朗普表示他将开始对所有墨西哥制造的商品征收关税，税率为5％特朗普说，关税将从那里上升，10月1日达到25％，“除非墨西哥大幅度阻止来自其领土的外国人的非法流入，”特朗普说。

Diess met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the sources said. A spokesman for Lighthizer did not immediately comment.

迪斯消息人士称，会见了美国贸易代表Robert Lighthizer。 Lighthizer的发言人没有立即发表评论。

The tariffs could cause the largest European automaker significant pain.

关税可能会给欧洲最大的汽车制造商带来巨大的痛苦。

Mexican made vehicles accounted for nearly half of Volkswagen's U.S. sales last year. The company builds the Jetta and Tiguan among other models at its Puebla, Mexico, plant and builds engines at a plant in Silao. It also assembles the Audi Q5, its best-selling U.S. vehicle accounting for a quarter of sales, at another plant in Mexico.

墨西哥制造的车辆占比去年大众汽车美国销量的近一半。该公司在其位于墨西哥普埃布拉的工厂建造了捷达和途观以及其他车型，并在Silao的工厂生产发动机。它还在墨西哥的另一家工厂组装奥迪Q5，这是其畅销的美国汽车，占销售额的四分之一。

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“We believe that tariffs of this kind are a tax on the U.S. consumer and will result in higher prices and also threaten job growth,” VW said in a statement on Monday, adding that the company “has made significant long-term investments in the United States that would be impaired by restrictive changes to trade.”

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A Volkswagen of America spokesman confirmed Diess was in Washington but declined to confirm his meeting with Lighthizer.

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In December, Diess was among a group of senior executives of leading German automakers who were pressed by Trump to expand their investments in the United States.

12月，迪斯是德国主要汽车制造商的高级管理人员之一，他们受到特朗普的压力，希望扩大在美国的投资。

“The president has a point,” Diess said in December, saying officials “tried to convince us to invest more into America and we are prepared to do this.”

“总统有一个观点，”迪斯说。 12月，官员“试图说服我们向美国投入更多资金，我们准备这样做。”

In January, the German automaker said it was investing $800 million to build a new electric vehicle at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. VW said it was adding 1,000 jobs at the plant and that electric vehicle production there would begin in 2022.

1月，这家德国汽车制造商表示投资800美元建立一个新的电动车辆在田纳西州查塔努加的工厂。大众汽车表示，它将在工厂增加1,000个工作岗位，电动汽车的生产将在2022年开始。

Diess also said in January that the company was considering building Audi vehicles in the United States but that no decisions had been made.

Diess也在1月份表示该公司正考虑在美国建造奥迪汽车。国家，但没有作出任何决定。