AUTO INDUSTRY/CHINA/TARIFFS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s announcement that China pledged to ‘reduce and remove’ its steep tariffs on cars from the U.S. may have been less than meets the eye. German carmakers are headed to the White House today — but not to talk trade, according to Chancellor Angela Merkel. And U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will be the point man in the next round of U.S.-China trade talks. Let’s start here: KNOCKING DOWN TRUMP’S CHINA AUTO TARIFFS CLAIM: Trump may have tweeted in the fog of a trade-heavy weekend that China has ‘agreed to reduce and remove tariffs’ on imported U.S. cars, but it remains unclear whether Beijing actually agreed to anything — and even some of Trump’s top advisers stopped short of confirming the details. The tweet — which came just hours after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day pause in tariffs — buoyed markets and sent shares of major auto companies like BMW and Daimler rising on Monday [12-3-18].”
–Megan Cassella, “Knocking down Trump’s China auto tariffs claim,” Politico, December 4, 2018 10:00 am