The trade war continues to escalate as Europe has threatened the United States with $300 billion worth of tariffs. The threats come as a retaliation against the US, which insisted on moving forward with duties on European cars.
US President Donald Trump recently threatened imports of European cars with a 20 percent tariff if Brussels doesn’t remove levies and other trade barriers on US goods. Instead of removing the levies, Brussels ratcheted up the trade war and rhetoric by returning threats.
In a letter sent Friday to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which was seen by the Financial Times, the European Commission warned that Trump could trigger a devastating global trade war with his auto-tariff threats. The EU insists it would be a trade war that the US could not win either. The letter did not lay out any specific measures, but only that the retaliation against the US would be forthcoming.
According to RT, in a written statement to the US Department of Commerce, Brussels reportedly warned that imposing tariffs on European cars “will be harmful first and foremost for the US economy.” According to the 11-page document, “an additional import tariff of 25 percent, applied to automobiles and automotive parts, would in first instance have a negative impact on US GDP in the order of $13-14 billion, and the current account balance of the US would be not affected positively.”
According to the document, European carmakers produced 2.9 million vehicles, or 26 percent of all American car production, in the US last year. Even without Chrysler, production by EU-owned companies in the US “still amounts to 16 percent of national production and 1.8 million vehicles.” The Commission noted that Chrysler was once “one of the traditional US ‘big three’ manufacturers” but is now of “European ownership.”
Trump said on Sunday that the European Union was just “as bad” as China when it came to the way most European countries traded with the United States. Trump also dismissed suggestions that his attacks on the EU were counterproductive and that he should instead strengthen relations with European countries to tackle the Chinese trade issue together. Talking about “the car situation” Trump told Fox News: “The European Union is possibly as bad as China, just smaller. . . It is terrible what they do to us.”
Global stocks picked upon the [trade war] tensions on Monday, with Dow futures YMU8, -0.49% down nearly 150 points and the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.77% off 0.7%. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -2.52% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indexes NIK, -2.21% each fell over 2%. –Market Watch
The ripple effects of any trade war will be felt by those regular citizens in the nations participating in such economic warfare, while the ruling classes of “elite” humans will be shielded from the effects of their policies.
“Around 60 percent of automobiles produced in the US by companies with exclusive EU ownership are exported to third countries, including the EU. Measures harming these companies would be self-defeating and would weaken the US economy,” the document said. It pointed out factually that cars would become more expensive and harder to sell further burdening the already doomed US economy.
The EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker is expected to meet with Trump in Washington this month.
Now that the USA expects countries around the world to practice FAIR TRADE, leftists want to blame us for doing something to attain that goal. Our ignorant politicians allowed foreign nations to screw American taxpayers for many decades. Now that we expect those countries to pay their own way and trade fairly, they seek any jump-to-confusion to avoid truly FREE MARKETS. Don’t fall for their BS.
I am perfectly fine with a ford or chevy! Take the Mercedes, BMW, etc. and go home. God Bless, James
You realize that a lot of Ford and Chevy vehicles are made in Mexico and BMW makes a lot of vehicles in the US right?
Who cares.. America Feeds the world. When they get hungry they will all come back, begging us to feed them.
Had a BIG Marbled T-Bone Steak on the grill yesterday, Big sweet potato and corn on the cob. A salute to America with Home grown food. Yummy!! Try eating your Mercedes and Porsche’.
My F-150 4-door 4×4 is made in the USA. Rides like a Cadillac and gets good mileage !!! 🙂
Here here!
Here here. It’s time to put Europe in it’s place.
What a genuine bunch of no good Leftist buffoons. Europe and their rip-off mess can suck it and suck it good!! Make America make all of our own stuff…
Is it me or WTF? Why does everyone else seem to think they can get us from behind and we are expected to be okay with it? I’m sorry but what is truly WRONG with this picture guys??
Why should we be worried about them placing Tariffs? They aren’t buying enough to amount to anything from the USA anyhow? Our manufacturing is at the lowest point since WWII. Just what is Manufactured here that is shipped elsewhere?
We should “Shut down all hard grain” exports. Wheat / corn as well as beef and pork. And Russia to close the the natural gas pipelines. That should bring the EU to their knees begging us to accept their surrender pretty quick.
As a rule tariffs don’t do anything except increase costs to Americans and destroys markets. They arguably caused a Depression in the 1930’s. I’m all for a price correction as I known everything is way overpriced and way too politicized.
A lot of people will get hurt, but there is no way a longshoreman should be earning $200,000 per year, Gold is way overpriced, equities are in a bubble as P/E ratios are way out of whack, and housing prices are outrageous.
Correction will hurt, but unless you have an actual asset loss, not just a paper loss I won’t really feel sorry for you. If my home value were to drop 400% I would not care, as I still have a home.
Easy way to solve the problem without tariffs. We have a current policy of maintaining a rotation of armored brigades in E. Europe. That’s 5 to 6 thousand soldiers and their armor deploying from US bases to Europe every 9 months at the expense of the American taxpayer. Stop the deployments immediately. Stop the money that goes along with these deployments. Hit them where it really hurts. Then, tell them we will start closing down bases (mostly in Germany) and bringing our forward deployed troops home. That’s a lot of money that would be pulled out of the EU economy. Money talks, BS walks.
Agree. Where is the down side?
Last time I bought something made in Europe was………………………….(crickets)……………..
The EU is evil. Even their symbol comes right out of the story of Nimrod who tried to get to God by constructing a tall building and then shooting arrows into the sky in an attempt to kill God. These EU people still want to kill God. They are the Communists/Globalists/International Rothschild Banking Cartel. Of course Trump has opposition. But Trump is right. The EU is finished. This snake is going to keep raising hell until they/legion is crushed, which it most certainly will be, eventually. Soon, God willing.
Even an atheist or agnostic must admit, it is telling that the EU uses the biblical symbol of Nimrod.
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Bang on B from CA!!
I’ve read that the tariff wars are preceding a US further collapse coming up this summer and fall. Why don’t the corporations lower their prices? Expected higher prices won’t increase sales for high cost items like cars. Higher food costs will affect everybody. Always rising prices the root function of capitalism? The dollar approaching the end of usefulness? I would never buy a Chrysler anyway. A fairly basic car now costs twice the price of a house 40 years ago.
a,
I bought my first home in WA state near Seattle in 1979( 39 years ago)for $35,000, VA loan. WA state housing as a rule is VERY expensive.
You can easily buy a new basic car today for half that.
As for rising prices, I recently bought a 4WD truck that originally
sold for nearly $28,000 in 2004(the original sticker was in the owners manual), for $3,000 in 2017. That is capitalism.
Granted I have the tools and skills to fix anything I can fit in my shop, but that is how you do it, I did not even negotiate. I said I’ll pay this much and that is it.
America needs to do this to the world.
Duterte also imposed a ban on luxury cars, triggering a black market.
We regard the household names as folk heroes. Mass production is within the grasp of the individual, yet not one person in a million literally thinks you can make such a thing.