The Trump administration has prepared a report for the president himself that once again brings up the possibilities of auto tariffs on the European Union. The tariffs could be as much as 25 percent on European-built cars imported to the U.S., which has the auto industry urging President Trump to forego them.
Reuters reported the U.S. Commerce Department delivered the report to the Trump administration Sunday evening after the administration declared it would investigate European-imported cars as a national security threat to the U.S. The industry balked as it discovered the national security report is shrouded in secrecy, which makes it difficult for automakers to react in the 90 days President Trump has to make his decision.
The Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association said in a statement that it was “alarmed and dismayed” at the decision. It added if tariffs are recommended and imposed, they “will put jobs at risk, impact consumers, and trigger a reduction in U.S. investments that could set us back decades.”
The 25 percent tariff would, for example, add over $10,000 to the price of a luxury vehicle built in Germany.
The Trump administration has argued in the past that the threat of tariffs will help secure concessions from the EU in a trade deal. The two decided to call a truce on possible tariffs as long as discussions persisted and were productive.
Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the EU has already drafted retaliatory tariff measures in the event its auto industry is slammed with new U.S. tariffs. According to the report, the tariffs amount to $23 billion in U.S. goods.
Comments
BMW’s biggest factory is in South Carolina. Not sure how that constitutes a national security threat, but I’m willing to learn!
Mercedes, VW also have invested here and have plants that employ thousands. Why punish them with tariffs on the models they import?
Trump might save GM yet. Contrary to popular belief, capitalists do not benefit from competition (only the consumer does); they want as much of a monopoly as possible. It has worked so well since 1964 with the tariff on the import of light trucks, which also stands at 25 percent. That’s how we ended up with the just the big 3 selling pickups until Toyota, Honda decided to build them in US factories.
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Oh, boy, more Social Justice Warrior (SJW) nonsense on GMA again from Sean…”Gender Equality” article posted today that GMA blocked all comments to because they don’t like people having their own opinions? Proof positive the article is just pure propaganda from GMA.
Keep up the left-wing extremism, Sean, and President Trump will be re-elected in a landslide.
G
And your sh!t country will be annexed by Russia and China which is already underway.
I think the angle used for the national security threat is production. Just think of the USA during the world war I and II era. There was a large amount of manufacturing in the country that just turned to building stuff for the war effort. So a country needs to have X amount of capability to be able to make something. If a war breaks out it could be next to impossible to acquire equipment to make items or to even mine. So it is in the interest of the USA to largely produce most of what she needs in case something goes down. The same goes for any country really. Imagine not being able to produce transformers in this modern age. That would be a disaster should something break out. Obviously factories will not appear over night but the USA should see an increase in manufacturing over the next two decades if the politician’s don’t screw it up. So this is just really a trade war amongst the big blocks in the world. USA, Japan, China, UK, EU(Germany)
You hate the Union, Sean. We know. You are a globalist anti-American/ Canadian idiot. So no amount of spin from you will change our minds.
German tariffs on importing American cars: 10% European Union and 17% German. 27% total.
Why doesn’t any media outlet ever mention the other side?
25% is still less than their 27%….
It’s a moot point. Germans don’t buy or want American cars. They consider them to be junk.
Good luck trying to sell cat and john deer equipment over seas. Tariff wars are easy to win says the draft dodging tax dodger.
There won’t be any tariffs. The Pres is negotiating better trade deals. If he tariffs cars the petrolheads in this country won’t vote for him!
Trump is using the tools given to every President as tariffs on cars manufactured ‘in’ the European Union is to offset EU tariffs on US exported goods to EU countries; Trump is the first President willing to take this step and everyone should applaud Trump’s efforts.