Trade Cases
Trump Could Act on Automotive Tariffs This Week
Written by Tim Triplett
May 14, 2019
President Trump could decide this week whether to extend the Section 232 tariffs to imports of vehicles and auto parts. May 18 is the deadline for the president to act on the Commerce Department report submitted back in February. As with the steel industry, the administration has argued that a strong automotive industry is essential to the U.S. economy and thus national security.
Speaking at a press conference this week in Luxembourg, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said President Trump will make a decision by May 18 on what, if anything, he wishes to do with the recommendations in the Commerce report on the threat to the U.S. posed by automotive imports. “The reason autos are very important to our trade picture is because about half of our trade deficit comes from the single product automotive and the other half comes from the geographic area called China. In order to reduce our trade deficit, one of the big objectives of this administration, we need to deal with China as an entity and automotive as a product line,” Ross said.
The European Union is reportedly finalizing a list of American goods it will hit with retaliatory tariffs in the event Trump levies Section 232 tariffs on car imports from the EU.
The timing of the auto tariff deadline appears unfortunate as the administration is already in the midst of contentious trade negotiations with China, as well as stalled talks with Canada and Mexico over the new North American free trade agreement
Tim Triplett
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