Senate to Vote on USMCA
The Senate is scheduled to vote Thursday on a major rewrite of trade rules with Canada and Mexico and, if it passes, it will head to President Donald Trump for his signature, reports USA Today. The bill approving the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is anticipated to garner the same kind of broad bipartisan support the trade measure received when USMCA overwhelmingly passed the House last month by a 385-41 vote. Trump and the leaders of both parties strongly support the measure, proving that Congress can still unite when it wants to even during the bitter partisan division over impeachment. The new agreement would replace rules for moving products among the three countries first crafted under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, which essentially eliminated tariffs on most goods traded among the three countries. Read more here.
Trump Secretly Threatened to Impose 25% Tariff on European Autos if They Didn't Warn of Iran Nuclear Deal Violations
A week before Germany, France, and Britain formally accused Iran of breaching the 2015 nuclear deal, the Trump administration issued a private threat to the Europeans, reports The Washington Post. If they refused to call out Tehran and initiate an arcane dispute mechanism in the deal, the United States would impose a 25 percent tariff on European automobiles, the Trump officials warned. Within days, the three countries would formally accuse Iran of violating the deal, triggering a recourse provision that could reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran and unravel the last remaining vestiges of the Obama-era agreement. The U.S. effort to coerce European foreign policy through tariffs, a move one European official equated to “extortion,” represents a new level of hardball tactics with the United States’ oldest allies, underscoring the extraordinary tumult in the transatlantic relationship. President Trump has previously used the threat of a 25 percent tariff on automobiles to win more-favorable terms in the country’s trade relationship with the Europeans, but not to dictate the continent’s foreign policy. Read more here.
Millennials Surpass Baby Boomers in Auto Loans Outstanding
Millennials hold a bigger share of auto loans than baby boomers, according to Experian’s 2019 Consumer Credit Review. Auto Finance News reports that borrowers aged 29 to 38 — the segment Experian considers millennials — held 30.1% of total outstanding auto loans, compared with baby boomers aged 55 to 73, who held 29.1% of all outstanding auto loans. Generation X borrowers — aged 39 to 54 — remained the age bracket holding the highest ratio of auto loans, at 33.4%. Millennial borrowers now also outnumber baby boomers, the report noted. Millennials have an average FICO of 668 across all credit segments, a 25-point increase since Experian began tracking the data in 2012. The increase “is an impressive boost for this generation of Americans, who are becoming an increasingly important factor in driving economic growth,” the report said. Read more here.
Toyota Makes a New $394 Million Bet on Flying Taxis
Toyota Motor Corp. is making a $394 million investment in Joby Aviation, one of the handful of companies with the seemingly implausible goal of making electric air taxis that shuttle people over gridlocked highways and city streets, reports Automotive News. Toyota is the lead investor in Joby’s $590 million Series C funding, alongside Baillie Gifford and Global Oryx and prior backers Intel Capital, Capricorn Investment Group, JetBlue Technology Ventures, Sparx Group and its own investment arm, Toyota AI Ventures. The deal, for now, makes the Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Joby the best-funded “eVTOL” (electric vertical take-off and landing) startup in a booming category that must overcome significant regulatory hurdles and concerns about passenger safety and noise, bringing the total money it has raised to $720 million. Over the past year, the 82-year Japanese automaker has deepened its interests in futuristic transportation technologies. Read more here.
Ghosn's Japan Lawyer Quits After Client's Flight to Lebanon
One of the Japanese lawyers for former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn has stepped down from that job after Ghosn fled the country, reports The Detroit News. Junichiro Hironaka had been representing Ghosn in his defense against various financial misconduct allegations. His move, announced Thursday, was widely expected after Ghosn fled to Lebanon late last month. Hironaka said in a statement that the entire team working on the case at his office will quit but did not outline reasons. He has said before he has felt some empathy for Ghosn’s reasons for escape, while stressing he had hoped to win vindication in court. Hironaka is respected for winning innocent verdicts in high-profile cases in this nation where the conviction rate is higher than 99%. Among the cases he has handled is that of Atsuko Muraki, a welfare ministry official accused of falsely approving a group to qualify for mail discounts. She was acquitted in 2010. Read more here.
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Around the Web
Yet Again, Americans Prove They Love Boring Car Colors [RoadShow]
Geely's Billionaire Owner Still Wants to Add Brands [Automotive News Europe]
Top 15 Cars That People Keep for 15 Years or More [Clark.com]
Want a Deal on a New Car or Truck? Buy an 'Old' Model That's Sold as a 'New Classic' [USA Today]
