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seven years ago. They are supported by National Guard
troops, local police, and thousands of port officers
using everything from drug-sniffing dogs to gamma-ray
machines.
In Arizona, the primary smuggling corridor on the
US-Mexico line, there are now more than 3,600 Border
Patrol agents, about 10 for every mile of boundary with
Mexico.
The budget this fiscal year for Customs and Border
Protection, the federal agency charged with guarding
US borders, is about $17 billion, double what was spent
in 2003.
Automotive
General Motors fills a broad spectrum
of automotive needs in China – and is
rewarded for it
China is the world’s largest auto market. It is also the
largest for General Motors, which over the first half of 2010
sold more vehicles there than in the United States. Now,
GM is strengthening its presence in China by way of one
of its major Chinese partners, SAIC Motor Corp, formerly
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.
Their plan to jointly develop small, fuel-efficient engines
and advanced transmissions should also help cement the
American company’s ties to the Chinese government, which
controls SAIC.
In their 18
th
August announcement, GM and SAIC said the
engines and transmissions would be produced by engineers
in Detroit and Shanghai for use in cars to be sold in China
and elsewhere.
The partners have for 13 years been making and selling cars
in Shanghai in a joint venture that is now majority owned
by SAIC, one of China’s biggest auto makers and a partner
as well of Germany’s Volkswagen.
At least obliquely, Hu Maoyuan, chairman of SAIC Motor,
suggested that the arrangement with GM might foster
sophistication in engine design – a perceived weakness of
Chinese automotive engineering.
“Not only will [the new development agreements] add
critical green technologies to our next-generation vehicles,”
Mr Hu said in a statement. “They will also build on the
strong engineering capabilities forged as part of GM and
SAIC’s corporate responsibility.”
Its Chinese experience has been a satisfying one for GM,
which a decade ago had five dealerships selling Buicks in
China. Today there are 27 Buick dealerships there. In July,
GM announced plans to create a seventh brand of small
passenger car to sell in China.
In the US, the company is down to just four brands, after
shedding Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Hummer during its
recent bankruptcy.