Escalating Trade Fight, Trump Threatens Higher Taxes on European Cars
After Mr. Trump announced the penalties on Thursday, European Union leaders warned
that American goods like Kentucky bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, many of them with roots in the home states of key Republican leaders, would be treated “the same way” if the steel and aluminum tariffs were enforced.
Big trade imbalance!”
It was the latest indication that Mr. Trump, despite pressure from foreign allies
and American business leaders, is standing by his decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from all countries.
The auto industry is a complex target for the president — European automakers have plants in the United States
and employ thousands of Americans, and United States automakers do sell large numbers of cars in Europe under brands unfamiliar to Americans.
By EMILY COCHRANEMARCH 3, 2018
WASHINGTON — President Trump warned on Saturday that he would apply higher taxes on imported European cars if the European
Union carried through on its threat to retaliate against his proposed stiff new tariffs on steel and aluminum.