Shares of U.S. automakers jumped in the premarket Tuesday after China‘s president unveiled a plan to “open” the country’s economy.
Ford Motor rose 1.8 percent, while General Motors and Tesla both gained more than 2 percent. Fiat Chrysler also climbed 1.6 percent. China is a key market for U.S. automakers.
GM sold more than 4 million cars in China last year for the first time, while Tesla doubled its revenue from China to $2 billion in 2017.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said his plans include “significantly” lowering import tariffs on foreign autos and decreasing duties of other products.
“We have a genuine desire to increase imports and achieve greater balance of international payments under the current account,” Xi said at the Boao Forum for Asia, according to a translation of the speech.
Xi’s comments come amid increasing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Last week, China announced fresh tariffs on 106 U.S. products, which then saw U.S. President Donald Trump going on to threaten more levies, saying that he had asked the United States Trade Representative to consider $100 billion in additional tariffs against the Asian nation.
The U.S. softened its tone slightly against China this weekend. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CBS on Sunday he does not expect a trade war between the U.S. and China to take place.
Meanwhile, Trump said in a tweet Sunday: “President Xi and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade. China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do.”
