There has to be some justice in the world, but it won't be found in China. For reasons only they can say, China kept it a secret over who was going to be charged with price fixing in the auto industry, dragging on for a week or so before announcing that it was SAIC-GM. The Wall Street Journal article today says the fine was $29M.
How does anyone fix prices in an economy like China's? GM had to team with SAIC in order to start a car business in that country and SAIC controls the distribution of cars to Chinese controlled dealers. Apparently, those very dealers were setting prices for their cars - the same as they do everywhere else in the world - and that was a sin, punishable by fine. Rediculous.
GM is the first car dealer to sell Chinese made cars in the US. Maybe we should shut that down and go back to a system that everyone understands. Kick your best auto partner in the nose and see what happens. Something will, and it won't likely be what they are expecting in the new world of U,S politics. It is outrageous and China cannot get away with treating foreign companies differently than it does it owns domestic markets. We are still missing the key element of trade with China - reciprocity.
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