Trump considers exemptions from US auto tariffs
Several media outlets report that Trump is reconsidering tariffs as they are also causing difficulties for car manufacturers based in the US. Therefore, the President is now thinking about easing the levies. There is talk of at least temporary exemptions. Trump stated verbatim to reporters in the Oval Office that car companies ‘need a little bit of time, because they’re going to make them here.’ That is why he is currently looking into how some manufacturers might be helped. He did not go into further detail at this point.
Trump imposed the 25 per cent tariffs on imported passenger cars and light commercial vehicles at the beginning of the month – surcharges for car parts are due to follow next month. However, there are already exemptions in place for some vehicles from Mexico and Canada under a North American trade agreement. Now, a further watering down of the 25 per cent tariffs could be on the cards.
Trump has a pattern of introducing tariffs and then partially walking them back. Over the weekend, the administration already had to exempt electronic products such as smartphones and laptops from China from his additional tariffs of 125 per cent. The background here is that the threatened disruption of supply chains would otherwise significantly harm the US economy.
And: as is well known, Trump announced last week that his sweeping (non-sector-specific) tariffs against dozens of countries would be suspended for 90 days and reduced to a base rate of 10 per cent to allow time for negotiations.
0 Comments