U.S. Says Talks Could Avert Tariffs on EU Cars

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross tells the Financial Times that a new round of trade talks with the European Union might avoid tariffs on imported cars from the bloc.

The Trump administration has been threatening since February to impose  taxes as great a 25% on cars imported from various countries. In May, President Donald Trump postponed taking action for 180 days, a period that will expire in mid-November.

A Commerce Dept. analysis last spring claimed the levies would be justified because foreign vehicles are a threat to U.S. national security. The analysis reasons that imports erode U.S. jobs and sap the country’s industrial base.

Canada, Japan, Mexico and South Korea have struck trade deals to protect them from such tariffs. Those agreements leave the EU as the remaining unshielded major exporter of vehicles to the U.S.

Ross acknowledges to FT that the Trump administration’s objective in threatening tariffs is to lure more auto jobs to the U.S. He says the White House has been “very encouraged” by the willingness of several foreign carmakers to locally produce more of the models in the U.S.