Chicken tax. Isuzu is part of the group trying to get this ended. Don't understand why? Look at the numbers. What's sad is how quickly Toyota moved their production into #1; a couple years ago Isuzu was the number one producer and truck seller. I don't know how many Toyota ships out; Isuzu may still be the #1 seller in Thailand.
Pickup tariff talks generate heat, not lightHarry Stoffer
Automotive News / February 27, 2006 - 6:00 am
More than 1 million vehicles were built in Thailand in 2005. About half were pickups. Here are capacity figures for the 5 largest manufacturers last year.
Company Cars and trucks
1. Toyota 350,000
2. Isuzu 200,000
3. Mitsubishi 170,000
4. AutoAlliance (Ford, Mazda) 135,000
5. Honda 120,000
Source: Runckel & Associates
WASHINGTON -- Low-cost, duty-free pickups built in Thailand won't be rolling off ships in U.S. ports any time soon. Top U.S. trade officials and their Thai counterparts have held a half-dozen negotiating sessions on a proposed free-trade agreement. But they have yet to take up the issue of cutting or eliminating the 25 percent U.S. tariff on imported pickups.
Interest groups on both sides address the tariff -- commonly called the "chicken tax" -- with urgency. The UAW and the Automotive Trade Policy Council, a group that represents General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and the Chrysler group on trade issues, warn that the proposed free-trade deal could threaten workers who build pickups in the United States.
More at the link above.
