President Donald Trump said Wednesday that tariffs on autos imported from Europe are something “we certainly think about” as the White House reviews a Commerce Department report on whether imported vehicles and parts pose a threat to U.S. national security.
Trump made it clear that any final decision on the matter hinges on trade negotiations between the United States and the European Union. In public hearings last year, the idea of imposing import taxes on autos drew almost no support, even from the U.S. auto industry.
President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)“If we don’t do the deal, we’ll do the tariffs,” Trump told reporters before a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
U.S. automakers ostensibly would benefit from a tax on their foreign competitors. But many U.S. automakers depend on imported parts that could be subject to Trump’s tariffs and could become more expensive. They also could be subject to retaliatory tariffs, as occurred when Trump last year imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum in the name of national security.
Trump described the U.S. and Austria as having a “great trade relationship.” But he complained about the U.S. running a trade deficit with the EU that he estimated at about $151 billion annually. Trump said the EU is “very tough to make a deal with.”