Detroit's Big Three automakers plan to ask for punitive duties on all imported cars, a move that could boost sticker prices thousands of dollars, The New York Times has reported.
The newspaper, citing unidentified sources, said Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp. will file a complaint charging that foreign automakers are selling cars for less in the United States than on their own soil.The case would be the largest of its kind in U.S. history, covering all $45 billion worth of annual imports, the Times said. If imposed, the duties would boost prices of imported sedans, station wagons, hatchbacks and sports cars.
The Times said the American manufacturers are amassing thousands of pages of evidence in support of a complaint they plan to file with the Commerce Department within three weeks.
To win their case, the automakers must persuade the department that the cars are being sold for less. They must also convince the International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency, that the imports are a significant cause of the domestic auto industry's financial woes.
Ford spokesman Bill Day said the automakers were "continually reviewing those options."