Politics
Carlo Allegri/Reuters
- Advisers to President Donald Trump are reportedly rushing to stop him from imposing 25% tariffs on around $200 billion worth of foreign automobile imports.
- Trump is scheduled to meet with European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday to negotiate a solution to avoid more tarifffs.
- If those talks fail and Trump goes forward with the auto tariffs, the EU's trade commissioner has said the EU will impose retaliatory measures on $20 billion worth of US goods.
Advisers to President Donald Trump are reportedly rushing to stop him from going forward with a plan to impose massive 25% tariffs on around $200 billion worth of foreign automobile imports, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
Despite strong objections from his economic advisers, key GOP leaders, and business executives, Trump wants to move full speed ahead with this new round of auto tariffs, people familiar with the discussions told the Post.
Even as the White House is currently giving $12 billion in emergency assistance to American farmers hurt in the crossfire of his administration's trade battles, Trump has continued his criticisms of foreign countries over trade.
"Every time I see a weak politician asking to stop Trade talks or the use of Tariffs to counter unfair Tariffs, I wonder, what can they be thinking?" Trump wrote in a Wednesday morning tweet. "Are we just going to continue and let our farmers and country get ripped off? Lost $817 Billion on Trade last year. No weakness!"
So far, Trump's administration has already enacted sweeping tariffs on foreign steel, aluminum, washing machines, and solar energy equipment imports, in addition to specifically targeting $34 billion of Chinese goods.
The developments on auto parts come as Trump is scheduled to meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday to try and negotiate a solution to the US' trade battle with the European Union.
Juncker will reportedly propose two solutions to Trump, a European official familiar with the plans told the Post. The first would be an across-the-board decrease in auto tariffs among all countries that export automobiles, and the second would be a deal between the US and EU to eliminate tariffs on all industrial products.
If the talks fail to produce a compromise and Trump goes ahead with the auto tariffs, the situation will only continue to escalate. The EU's trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said the EU is prepared to hit $20 billion worth of US imports with retaliatory tariffs.