Trump Tariff Threats Could Damage S.C. Auto Industry

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to escalate a trade war with Europe by imposing a 20 percent tariff on all U.S. imports of European Union-assembled cars, a month after the administration launched an investigation into whether auto imports pose a national security threat. 

FILE PHOTO - Parked cars are pictures at the car terminal at the port of Valencia, Spain May 29, 2018. Picture taken May 29, 2018. REUTERS/Heino Kalis 

“If these Tariffs and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the U.S. Build them here!” Trump wrote on Twitter Friday. 

Trump’s tweet on autos came after EU reprisals against his tariffs on European steel and aluminum. The EU targeted more than $3 billion in American goods exported to the 28-member European Union. 

The United States currently imposes a 2.5 percent tariff on imported passenger cars from the European Union and a 25 percent tariff on imported pickup trucks. The EU imposes a 10 percent tariff on imported U.S. cars.