- Title: Siemens chief does not expect to be put under pressure by Trump
- Date: 6th January 2017
- Summary: SEEON, GERMANY (JANUARY 6, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ABBEY IN BAVARIAN VILLAGE OF SEEON (pron.: SAY-on) WHERE GERMANY'S CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN SOCIAL UNION (CSU), THE CDU'S SISTER PARTY, HOLDS MEETINGS CSU PARLIAMENTARY FLOOR LEADER GERDA HASSELFELDT AND SIEMENS CHIEF JOE KAESER WALKING TO MICROPHONES SNOW-COVERED CSU LOGO KAESER SPEAKING SUN RISING (SOUNDBITE) (German) SIEMENS CHIEF, JOE KAESER, SAYING: "We have more than 40 plants there and basically, we are a very established part of the United States. We focused on local production very early on already and one of my pre, predecessors, Dr. (Heinrich) von Pierer, was defining in this. So we have exactly (the situation) which, how shall I say, was tweeted on. Other than that, we need to see how we deal with it. I have always made clear that we will work well with every democratically elected president across the world and we will support him in the things that help society." CSU LOGO CAMERAS (SOUNDBITE) (German) SIEMENS CHIEF, JOE KAESER, SAYING: "I am curious to see how job retention in the United States, which for labour costs, typically is a little more unfavourable than Mexico, how that is compatible with Wall Street where the fundamentals are totally different." CAMERAS HASSELFELDT AND KAESER WALKING OFF
- Embargoed: 21st January 2017 12:12
- Keywords: Siemens USA Trump Mexico jobs Germany Kaeser
- Location: SEEON, GERMANY
- City: SEEON, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA0015XXZ1QL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Siemens chief Joe Kaeser said on Friday (January 6) he does not expect the German engineering group to come under pressure from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Kaeser made the comments after Trump singled out Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp and threatened to slap punitive tariffs on its Mexico-built cars.
"We have more than 40 plants there and basically we are a very established part of the United States," Kaeser told reporters.
"We focused on local production very early on already," said Kaeser, adding "so we have exactly (the situation) which, how shall I say, was tweeted on.
Trump has repeatedly hit out at U.S. companies for using lower-cost factories abroad at the expense of jobs at home. He has slammed U.S. automakers, including Ford which this week scrapped a planned $1.6 billion Mexico plant.
Kaeser also said he was "curious to see how job retention in the United States, which for labour costs typically is a little more unfavourable than Mexico, how that is compatible with Wall Street where the fundamentals are totally different."
Trump has said he plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, and has vowed to impose a 35 percent tariff on cars exported to the United States from Mexico.
According to JP Morgan estimates, an increase in tariffs on cars exported from Mexico to the United States to even 10 percent would hit Nissan's consolidated operating earnings by 10.3 percent, more than 5.5 percent at Mazda. Toyota would see a hit of 0.7 percent, while Honda 2.2 percent.
All four Japanese automakers building cars in Mexico said they have no immediate plans to change operations. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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