Commerce secretary: US may not need to put tariffs on European cars
05/11/2019
The White House agreed in May to delay new tariffs on imported vehicles and parts for six months while negotiating with the EU and Japan, Bloomberg reported. Last month the US reached a deal with Japan to avoid tariffs; yet, although the deadline looms, the EU and Washington have yet to find agreement.
In an interview, commerce secretary Wilbur Ross told Bloomberg Television that he hopes negotiations with individual companies regarding their capital investment plans will be fruitful enough to avoid putting the tariffs into effect.
Speaking from Bangkok, where Mr Ross is attending a regional summit, he praised conversations with Europe, Japan and Korea. South Korea, according to Bloomberg, was already exempted from future tariffs because it renegotiated the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) last year.
The EU has said that cars made in the 28-country bloc aren’t a threat to US national security and shouldn’t be targets of the tariffs. The Trump administration has already hit the EU with duties on steel and aluminum exports using the national-security justification, reported Bloomberg, and talks on a trade deal have stalled in part because of the EU refusing to include agricultural products.
Image: Volvo XC90 leather interior
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