President Donald Trump threatened to impose 20 per cent tariff on all European Union-assembled cars coming into the United States. This revelation came in a month after the administration launched an investigation into whether auto imports pose a national security threat.
“If these Tariffs and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the US Build them here!” Trump wrote on Twitter Friday.
The European Autos Stocks Index fell sharply after Trump’s 20 per cent tariff tweet and was last down 1.25 per cent. Ford Motor Co shares went into the red and were down 0.5 per cent, while General Motors Co shares were off 0.3 per cent.
The US Commerce Department is investigating whether imports of automobiles and auto parts are a risk to national security. The deadline for completing the investigation is February 2019, but Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Thursday said the department aims to wrap up the probe much earlier, by late July or August.
The Commerce Department plans to hold two days of public comments in July on its probe of auto imports.
Trump has repeatedly singled out German auto imports to the United States for criticism.
At a meeting with automakers at the White House on May 11, Trump told automakers he was planning to impose tariffs of 20 or 25 per cent on some imported vehicles and sharply criticized Germany’s automotive trade surplus with the United States.
The United States currently imposed a 2.5 per cent tariff on imported cars from the European Union and a 25 per cent tariff on imported pickup trucks. The EU, on the other hand, imposes a 10 per cent tariff on imported US cars.
The tariff proposal has drawn sharp condemnation from Republican lawmakers and business groups. A group representing the major US and foreign automakers has said it was “confident that vehicle imports do not pose a national security risk.”
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
