The president of the United States, Donald Trump, said Tuesday that he intends to impose tariffs on cars “of around 25%” and obligations similar to imports of semiconductors and pharmaceutical products, the last of a series of measures that threaten to disrupt international trade.
On Friday, Trump said that cars would go into force as soon as on April 2, one day after the members of their cabinet must deliver reports that describe the options for a series of import tariffs while seeking to reformulate global trade.
Trump has long criticized what he calls the unfair treatment of US automotive exports in foreign markets.
The European Union, for example, charges a 10% tariff to vehicle imports, four times the 2.5% tariff that the United States applies to passenger cars. On the other hand, the United States charges a 25% tariff to the trucks from different countries in Mexico and Canada, a tax that makes these vehicles very profitable for Detroit car manufacturers.
The EU Commercial Chief, Maros Sefcovic, will meet with his American counterparts -the Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Trump’s candidate to be a commercial representative of the United States, Jamieson Greer, and the director of the National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett- In Washington on Wednesday to discuss the various tariffs threatened by Trump.
Trump has long criticized what he calls the unfair treatment of US automotive exports in foreign markets.
The European Union, for example, charges a 10% tariff to vehicle imports, four times the 2.5% tariff that the United States applies to passenger cars. Instead, The United States charges a 25% tariff to the trucks from different countries in Mexico and Canadaa tax that makes these vehicles very profitable for Detroit car manufacturers.
The EU Commercial Chief, Maros Sefcovic, will meet with his American counterparts -the Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Trump’s candidate to be a commercial representative of the United States, Jamieson Greer, and the director of the National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett- In Washington on Wednesday to discuss the various tariffs threatened by Trump.
When asked if the EU could avoid the reciprocal tariff made.
He said he would press EU officials to increase US imports of cars and other products.
Pharmaceutical and chips tasks
Trump told journalists in his ownership of Mar-A-Lago in Florida on Tuesday that sectoral tariffs on pharmaceutical products and semiconductor chips would also begin in “25% or more”, increasing substantially in the course of a year.
He did not provide a date to announce these tariffs and said he wanted to take some time to medications and chips to establish factories in the United States so that they can avoid tariffs.
Trump said he expected some of the world’s largest companies to announce new investments in the United States in the coming weeks, but did not give more details.
Since he assumed the position four weeks ago, Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all imports from China, in addition to existing taxes, Because China has failed to stop fentanyl traffic. He also announced, and then postponed for a month, 25% tariffs to goods from Mexico and Canada’s non -energy imports.
It has also set on March 12 as a date of entry into force of 25% tariff. Trump also announced, opens a new tab this tariffs would be applied to hundreds of imported products made of steel and aluminum, from electrical cable tubes to excavator leaves.
Last week, he ordered his economic team to prepare plans to impose reciprocal tariffs that coincide with the tariff rates of each country, product by product.
Suspended cars tariffs
A 25% tariff to car imports would be a radical change for a world automotive industry that is already staggering due to the uncertainty caused by Trump’s tariff drama.
A similar drama was developed in 2018 and 2019 during Trump’s first mandate, when the Commerce Department conducted a national security investigation into car imports and discovered that they weakened the national industrial base. Trump had threatened 25% tariffs on cars at that time, but finally did not take any measure, which allowed the tariff authority of that research to expire.
But part of the research carried out in 2018 could be reused or updated as part of a new automotive tariff effort.
