Foreign auto makers receive US money

Tax Fairness for U.S. Auto Makers

– The Wall Street Journal
December 16, 2008

Your Dec. 1 editorial "America's Other Auto Industry" questions whether taxpayers
should provide temporary federal loans to American automakers, but conveniently
ignores one fact:
Our taxpayers already give huge sums of financial assistance to
foreign car companies right here in the U.S.
As proposed, the requested bridge loans represent roughly $4 billion in assistance to
U.S. auto makers, that is, the cost of a low-interest loan.
With 240,000 employees
spread among the three U.S. companies, that works out to less than $16,000 in
temporary taxpayer assistance per job.
By contrast, foreign auto makers receive far more from U.S. taxpayers in various forms
of government assistance.
In Tennessee, for example, state and local authorities offered
Volkswagen $577 million in lowered taxes and other benefits in exchange for the plants
it is constructing, at a staggering cost of $288,000 per job created.
Similarly, Toyota is receiving $300 million in support for its plant in Texas, or $150,000
per job created. Alabama provided Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Mercedes an average
of $111,000 in incentives per job. The list goes on.
Unlike the temporary assistance GM,
Ford and Chrysler are seeking, in almost all the cases,
U.S. taxpayer subsidies to
foreign companies never need to be paid back.
Let's make sure to keep the discussion balanced.
Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes,
BMW, Kia and Hyundai already receive far more in permanent financial support from our
own taxpayers than what the U.S. auto industry is seeking.
Our own companies deserve
equal consideration, no more, no less.

Stephen Collins
President
Automotive Trade Policy Council
Washington
ATPC is the trade association which represents
Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and
General Motors Corp.