5/29/2018

COMMERCE/GOP/NATIONAL SECURITY/TARIFFS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Less than a week after the Trump administration threatened to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on foreign-built automobiles, the U.S. government on Tuesday [5-29-18] said it would hold public hearings on whether the import of vehicles and auto parts represents national security risks. The Commerce Department announced in the Federal Register that it would hold two days of public comments in July on its probe of auto imports. Already, the tariff proposal has drawn condemnation from Republican lawmakers and business groups. A group representing major automakers said last week that it was ‘confident that vehicle imports do not pose a national security risk.’ The administration launched an investigation to determine whether vehicle and parts imports were threatening the industry’s health and ability to develop advanced technologies. The probe could lead to new U.S. tariffs similar to those imposed on imported steel and aluminum in March. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce noted U.S. auto production has doubled over the past decade, and said tariffs ‘would deal a staggering blow to the very industry it purports to protect and would threaten to ignite a global trade war.'”

-Reuters Staff, “U.S. Sets Public Hearings on Auto Import Tariff Probe,” The New York Times online, May 29, 2018