Donald Trump says he will announce decision on auto tariffs 'soon'

United States President Donald Trump on November 13 said that he would be announcing his decision on tariffs on imported autos 'soon' as his administration has reportedly briefed him on the issue of whether to impose tariffs on car and auto part imports into the US, however, President Trump has not given any hints about his final decision. 

The Trump administration has been threatening since last year to impose tariffs of 25 percent on auto imports to defend the US automaking sector. The threat alarmed the German automakers but back in September the administration reached an agreement with Japan to continue suspending auto tariffs while talks continued. The US and South Korea have also reached an agreement in which Seoul has promised to further open its own market to US automakers. 

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was the first who had raised national security concerns as a reason for imposing new tariffs on the first place. Further, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker in an interview with an international media outlet said that he does not think the US president will impose new tariffs targeting European automobiles. 

Ross said, "Our hope is that the negotiations we've been having with individual companies about their capital investment plans will bear enough fruit that it may not be necessary" to launch a so-called Section 232 investigation.

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$7.5 billion tariffs on EU goods

In the month of October, the US also imposed tariffs worth $7.5 billion on European goods. Airbus, French wine and Scottish whiskeys are among the high profile targets that will be affected by the taxes. These tariffs took effect at 0001 in Washington and were imposed despite the request from the European officials to reprieve it last minute along with the warning of retaliation from the Economy Minister of France, Bruno Le Maire. The World Trade Organisation ruled that the US can impose tariffs on European goods annually because the European government had given illegal subsidies to Airbus. 

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WTO authorization

The World Trade Organisation's dispute settlement body had representatives from its 164 members which had cleared that Washington can take legitimate countermeasures against the EU and other Airbus producing countries like Britain, France, Germany, and Spain. The authorization of October 2 by WTO was reportedly a formality after an arbitrator awarded a record right to retaliate over the subsidies this month, which could only be denied if all members of the WTO had voted against. Moreover, the meeting had lasted only 20 minutes.

(With PTI inputs)

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