A USA trade law will allow the President to evoke a “national security threat”; the provision that allows tariffs on items that threaten national security.
Under the law, the USA is allowed to impose a 25% tariff on imports of auto parts and cars. This would be a great disadvantage to European exporters, particularly Germany.
The President received the advice from his advisers on February 17. He has 90 days to decide whether to impose import duties. In November 2018, the White House asked for a 25% import duty on imported cars after the US company General Motors laid off large numbers of staff.
To avoid a trade war, the Economy Minister of Germany favoured a reduction of import tariffs for cars to “ideally zero per cent” both in the US and Europe.
