Trump Says Foreign Cars Are No Security Threat

When asked by Fox Business Network today if imported foreign cars present a security risk to the U.S., President Donald Trump replied, “Well, no.”

That question was the subject of a Dept. of Commerce analysis submitted to the White House in September and whose conclusions remain secret.

Trump says his concern about national security refers to the strength of the country’s “balance sheet,” by which he may be referring to its balance of trade, Bloomberg News reports. The president tells Fox business reporter Maria Bartiromo that European carmakers would “have no tariffs” if they built more factories in the U.S.

Trump says he would agree to drop import tariffs on certain other European goods if Europe did the same. Those talks have stalled over the White House demand that agricultural goods be included.

But he insists we won’t budge on tax-free cars from Europe without new factories in the U.S. Bloomberg notes that German trade group VDA claims German carmakers—the focus of Trump’s ire about imported cars—already produce far more vehicles in the U.S. than they import.

Sweden-based Volvo Car Corp. also began making X60 midsize sedans in Charleston, S.C., in June. Much of the plant’s output will be exported. The factory has capacity to make 150,000 vehicles per year, which is roughly 80% more vehicles than the company sold in the U.S. last year.