Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened to expropriate a Toyota plant because the local managers refuse to build all-terrain vehicles.
Chavez, speaking at a public event late on Wednesday, also issued a warning to Ford, General Motors and Fiat, who also have assembly plants in Venezuela.
“I immediately order an inspection of the Toyota plant, to see why they do not want to build all-terrain vehicles,” Chavez said.
“We have to force them, and if not they can leave and we’ll bring in another company,” he said.
“The Chinese want to come, the Chinese make the all-terrain,” he said.
Chavez asked for a minimum quota of Toyota all-terrain vehicles built in Venezuela, and threatened to expropriate their plant if they refused to comply.
“Let’s suppose those people [from Toyota] don’t want to. Well, we’ll tell them to leave, this is our house. And we’ll take those same warehouses and factories, we’ll pay them whatever they are worth, we aren’t going to rob anyone, and then we’ll quickly call the Chinese,” he said.
The Venezuelan leader on Wednesday delivered autos imported from Argentina “without intermediaries” that were sold at affordable prices and distributed through a new network of “socialist” outlets.
In related news. Toyota is recalling about 43,000 cars in China because of a defect that may cause engine oil to leak, a company spokesman said yesterday.
The recall affects the Lexus ES 350, the Lexus RX 350, the Highlander and the Previa minivan.
It comes months after Toyota announced its biggest ever recall in China, affecting about 688,000 vehicles, because of a defect in the electric window system.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS