Ford’s head of North American operations Mark Fields wants the federal government’s help to increase the number of fuel pumps that provide ethanol in flexible-fuel vehicles.
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According to Dow Jones, he said in a speech at the US Chamber of Commerce that Ford has so far produced more than 1.6m flex-fuel vehicles capable of running on both petrol and E-85, a fuel blend made up of 85% ethanol but the nation’s 170,000 refuelling stations have a total of only 700 E-85 pumps.
“That’s not enough. … This is a place where businesses such as the oil companies and the government, through incentives like tax credits, can do much more than we ever could to increase retail distribution of E-85,” Fields reportedly said.
According to Dow Jones, Fields also called on lawmakers to permanently renew the expired research-and-development tax credit and to press trade partners, particularly Japan and South Korea, to play fair.
According to the report, Fields said Ford isn’t looking for special treatment from the US government but insisted there was a role for the administration to play in ensuring a “level playing field” for all automakers.
“No bailouts. No handouts. But having taken the steps to help ourselves, we think it’s important that we all come together to address the external challenges that affect so many American businesses,” Fields said.
Specifically, he complained that Japan and Korea have both used non-tariff trade barriers to keep American cars out of their markets.
He charged that Japan spent more than $400 billion in interventions to keep the yen weak against the US. dollar, a practice that effectively amounted to a $US3,000 to $7,000 per vehicle export subsidy, Dow Jones said.
Meanwhile, South Korea has allowed only 4,000 US-made vehicles to be sold in the country last year, while 730,000 Korean-made vehicles were exported to the United States.
Fields reportedly said negotiations over a US-Korea free-trade agreement present an opportunity for President Bush and Congress “to demand some reciprocity, including full and unimpeded access for US-made vehicles to the Korean market.”
“Anything less will not be worthy of our support. However, this potential trade agreement, if done right, is an opportunity to finally level the playing field,” he said, according to Dow Jones.
