Trade Tensions Delay GAC’s U.S. Launch Plans

China’s Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., which had aimed to begin shipping vehicles to the U.S. next year, is putting those plans on hold, Bloomberg News reports.

The carmaker cites escalating “trade frictions” between China and the U.S. as a reason for the delay. A revised timetable for the launch wasn’t provided.

GAC, which exhibited at the last two Detroit auto shows and had begun recruiting American dealers, planned to launch U.S. sales early next year with its GS8 large SUV. But last October, GAC President Yu Jun acknowledged that the Trump administration’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on foreign cars could delay those plans.

Several other Chinese carmakers also have been eyeing the market. Earlier this month, Zotye Automobile International Co. affirmed its plans to launch U.S. sales of its T600 compact crossover by the end of 2020 or early 2021.