Ford Motor Co. and General Motors expect to export 1.8 billion dollars' worth of vehicles and parts over the next few years, helped by new bilateral deals, executives said Tuesday.
The struggling US automakers were among the firms that signed deals this week worth 13.6 billion dollars ahead of a high-level meeting of officials from both countries.
Beijing said the agreements inked in Washington and St. Louis, Missouri, were part of plans by Chinese companies to increase imports from the trade deficit-ridden United States.
Tom Hoyt, a Ford spokesman, said Ford was one of about a dozen companies to sign the bilateral agreements with the Chinese government.
Ford plans to export more than 800 million dollars' worth of vehicles and parts to China, while GM expects to ship about one billion dollars' worth of complete vehicles, components kits machinery and other equipment to its Shanghai GM venture between 2008 and 2010.
“As a global automotive industry leader, GM is dedicated to promoting a strong and harmonious trade relationship between the United States and China,” said Ken Cole, GM vice president of global public policy and government relations.
“This is benefiting companies and consumers in both nations,” Cole said.
Among the vehicles to be exported from the United States are products from GM's Cadillac luxury brand, including the American-made CTS luxury sport sedan and Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicle.
The declining value of the US dollar has made American-made goods more affordable on global markets.
Ford is planning to export US-made transmission components to its Changan-based Ford Mazda Automobile Co. Ltd.
Ford will sell more than 30,000 North American-built vehicles in China starting in 2009, Ford officials said.
“This historic export agreement with China is another step in our commitment to accelerate the development of new products that customers want and value and leverage Ford's global assets,” said Alan Mulally, president and chief executive of Ford.
“It also is good news for the Ford teams that assemble these products and components in both the United States and Canada.”
Ford has exported vehicles to China, dating back to 1913.
Ford did not identify which vehicles it intended to export starting in 2009.
The deals gave a psychological boost to the two-day US-China cabinet-level “strategic economic dialogue” (SED), grappling with wide-ranging issues that began Tuesday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
