Car-making nations to meet on Trump tariff threat
Major car-producing nations are due to meet without the United States to discuss possibly coordinating their response to President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs.
Representatives of the European Union, Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Japan will convene in Geneva this week to debate how to respond if the US imposes levies on car imports, as well as prospects for reforming the World Trade Organisation, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Two officials said participants will explore the possibility of an international accord to cut tariffs on cars,
What we’ve agreed to is not to impose automotive tariffs while the negotiations are under way.
Wilbur Ross, US Commerce Secretary
although two other officials said this was not part of the formal agenda.
While European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Trump agreed this week to refrain from “unilateral actions” as the EU and the US negotiate a trade pact, a Commerce Department investigation under an act that permits the imposition of trade restrictions if car imports are found to harm national security is still ongoing, keeping up the pressure on major exporting nations.
“We’ve been directed by the President to continue the investigation, get our material together but not actually implement anything pending the outcome of the negotiation,” US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said last week. “What we’ve agreed to is not to impose automotive tariffs while the negotiations are under way.”
The threat of tariffs on car imports and levies already imposed on other goods including steel have strained relations between the US and its closest allies. Trade protectionism adds to a series of disputes, ranging from climate change to Middle East policy, which have upended the ties binding together developed nations since Trump’s election in office.
Though the US auto industry has roundly rejected the need for new tariffs, major car exporters fear Trump could still forge ahead with duties after the Commerce Department releases its report in late August or September.