BMW tends to raise prices due to trade friction

World
Europe

02:48

Under the shadow of escalating trade war, BMW, the largest car exporter in the US, will raise the price of its popular car models.

A BMW spokesman said the company must take measures to respond to market changes while BMW is supporting to stop trade friction.

It will increase the retail prices of its two most popular SUV models, X5 and X6, by four percent to seven percent.

BMW’s largest plant in the world in Spartanburg, last year made more than 370,000 luxury SUVs with 10,000 employees, pumping billions of US dollars into the state's economy.

However, now the car industry is threatened by China’s 40 percent retaliatory tariff on imported vehicles and in places like Spartanburg, many local industries are directly connected to auto factories.

David Britt, a Spartanburg county commissioner and a Trump backer, said, “I'm extremely concerned because the impact, the ripple effect, is – it goes beyond BMW and the automotive industry."

Trump's tough talk on trade was part of his appeal to voters in South Carolina. Now there's growing concern Trump's trade war is about to backfire on them eventually.