AUTO INDUSTRY/CHINA/TARIFFS/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “If President Donald Trump decides to slap tariffs on the global car industry, suppliers like Jack Sun, who runs a 30-person operation in northeast China, would be the first to feel the financial pain. Qingdao Ray Machinery and Technology doesn’t sell directly to the U.S. Rather, it exports molds and tools for a Chinese tire company in the Middle East, which in turn supplies automakers in U.S. and Europe. Although Trump may think he is aiming his tariffs at big European luxury brands and Asian giants like Toyota and Honda, the additional duties could send shock waves throughout a global supply chain, hitting small cogs like Qingdao Ray particularly hard…Such tariffs would harm the world economy much more than the current battle between Washington and Beijing. The U.S.-China trade war directly affects 3 percent of global trade, but the automotive industry accounts for 8 percent, according to World Trade Organization figures. Trump is sitting on an explosive report from the U.S. Commerce Department that is expected to recommend tariffs as high as 25 percent on vehicles and car parts on the grounds that such imports threaten the national security of the United States.”
–Finbarr Bermingham and Adam Behsudi, “U.S. and Chinese companies fear Trump’s coming trade war on car industry,” Politico, April 17, 2019 5:19 am