戴姆勒和宝马可能成为美中贸易战的最大输家

It is one of the tantalising ironies of the trade war between the US and China: German carmakers BMW and Daimler could end up as the biggest losers.

美中贸易战的一个令人扼腕叹息的讽刺是，德国汽车制造商宝马和戴姆勒可能最终成为这场贸易战中的最大输家。

After decades of investing in American states that back Donald Trump’s Republican party, the US’s two largest car exporters by value are likely to be hurt most.

在两个支持唐纳德特朗普所在共和党的州进行数十年投资之后，按出口价值计算为美国最大的两家汽车出口商可能受到最大伤害。

If China goes through with its threat to retaliate against the US president’s policies, sport utility vehicles built by BMW in South Carolina and Daimler-owned Mercedes in Alabama will be subject to onerous 40 per cent tariffs from July 6.

如果中国将报复美国总统政策的威胁付诸实施，宝马在南卡罗来纳州的工厂和戴姆勒旗下梅赛德斯(Mercedes)在阿拉巴马州的工厂——按价值计算为美国最大的两家汽车出口商——生产的运动型多功能车(SUV)从7月6日起将面临40%的高额关税。

By contrast, the main US carmakers will see little impact from rising tariffs in China.

相反，中国提高关税对美国主要汽车制造商的影响不大。

The Beijing market is extremely important to both Ford and General Motors, but the vast majority of their Chinese-sold vehicles are already produced locally. Both companies have thriving joint ventures with Chinese companies that meet most of the market demand for their vehicles.

对福特(Ford)和通用汽车(General Motors)来说，中国市场极其重要，但它们在中国销售的汽车绝大多数都是在中国本土生产的。二者都与中国公司组建了业务兴旺的合资企业，这些合资企业生产的汽车满足了中国市场对这两个品牌的大部分需求。

Adding to the complexity of trade war repercussions, Daimler and BMW’s German rivals Porsche and Audi could be major beneficiaries as vehicles exported from Europe will face levies of just 15 per cent.

令贸易战后果复杂化的是，戴姆勒和宝马的德国同行保时捷(Porsche)和奥迪(Audi)可能成为主要受益者，因为从欧洲出口到中国的汽车将只面临15%的关税。