AUTO INDUSTRY/CHINA/COMMERCE/ECONOMY/TARIFFS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Sometimes, on a bad night, Brad Strong wakes at 2 a.m. and can’t get back to sleep. The insomnia isn’t about his family or money or health. It’s about tariffs. The Strong family’s three car dealerships in Salt Lake City could suffer a significant blow if President Donald Trump proceeds with a proposal to impose tariffs of 20 to 25 percent on imported autos and auto parts. Strong may be in for a few more sleepless nights. By Sunday, Trump’s Commerce Department is expected to issue an opinion on whether auto imports endanger U.S. national security enough to justify such import taxes. Trump would then have 90 days to decide whether to impose them. The department could decide to postpone its conclusion. Or it could just hand its recommendations to Trump without making them public. But if it does suggest that Trump impose the tariffs, Commerce would be advocating a major escalation in Trump’s combative trade policies. So far, he has stuck tariffs on imported steel, aluminum, dishwashers, solar panels and hundreds of Chinese goods. The tariffs have become a financial burden for U.S. companies that import goods and parts and have led some to pass on their higher costs to customers. Many economists worry about the eventual impact on the U.S. economy.”
–Tom Krisher and Paul Wiseman, “Car prices could jump $1,800 or more if Trump imposes 25 percent auto tariffs,” USA Today, February 15, 2019 11:09 am