Double safety standard
In trade with Europe, automakers have lobbied hard to end tariffs on imports and to streamline nuances in auto regulations between the US and European Union that automakers say could trim hundreds of millions in costs.
In fact what is required is for the US to review its own auto regulations to comply with what has become a global standard in auto safety.
Differences in safety regulations between the US and Europe, for example, require automakers to rework the same cars sold on both sides of the Atlantic to different safety criteria to satisfy different crash test standards.
Most of the world complies with what is called UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), although it’s now international and has little to do with Europe. Just about every country on the planet is a signatory to the ECE standards, and those who aren’t will still accept them, except the US and Canada.
According to many experts, the US regulations are not only different to European standards but in fact they are inferior.
However, what matters here is that the difference means that carmakers wishing to sell cars in America have to manufacture two versions of the same car to comply with two sets of regulations. The result is that the American market has less car models available than in other parts of the world, including many small hatchbacks.
There is suspicion that the US is using regulations as “non-tariff trade barrier.” That means it’s a way to keep foreign cars out of America by making it expensive to sell them there.
They are also a kind of disguised protectionism that must end to allow for a truly free global auto market. By unifying regulations or accepting European safety standards, the US can contribute a lot to the free trade it so cherishes.
-------------------
* Adel Murad is a senior motoring and business journalist, based in London.
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view
