The US Commerce Department has submitted the draft recommendations regarding Section 232 national security tariffs on autos to the White House this week. The recommendations were discussed at a regular weekly meeting of Trump’s top trade officials yesterday. So far, no immediate action is taken by Trump.
At the same time, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom will meet US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Wednesday to carry on trade negotiations. Ahead of that, she said “We assume that if that (U.S. auto tariffs) were to happen, that would not be for the European Union,”. She referred to the agreement between Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that auto tariffs won’t apply to the EU when negotiations are still on going. Malmstrom also reiterated that the scope of the EU-US trade deal will be “limited” to industrial goods. She emphasized “be very clear, it will not include agriculture.”
Juncker said earlier this week that “we had achieved that there will not be a new trade conflict over the summer months until the end of the year, particularly with regard to car tariffs.”
