President Donald Trump officially announced on the 26th that, following steel and aluminum, he would impose a 25% tariff on foreign automobiles imported into the United States starting April 2nd.
The target countries are all foreign automobiles, but it is expected that automobiles produced in Korea, Japan, Europe, Mexico, and Canada will be the main targets. This has further expanded the front lines of Trump’s global trade war.
President Trump’s latest measure, which aims to lead the revival of the automobile manufacturing industry in the United States, is expected to have a particularly big impact on Korea, where automobiles are the number one export item to the United States.
At a press conference held in the Oval Office that afternoon, President Trump said, “What we’re going to do is impose a 25% tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States.” He said, “We’re going to impose tariffs on countries that have been doing business here and stealing jobs and wealth over the years,” adding, “Friends have often been much worse than enemies. And this (imposing tariffs) is very gentle.”
President Trump also signed an executive order saying, “We expect to raise $100 billion (about 147 trillion won) annually by imposing tariffs on foreign-made cars.” The auto tariffs are the third tariff on individual items that President Trump has imposed since taking office on January 20.
Previously, the United States imposed a 25% tariff on steel, aluminum, and steel and aluminum derivatives imported from all trading partners starting at 00:01 on the 12th, Eastern Standard Time.
President Trump announced that the auto tariffs would be imposed on “April 2nd.” April 2nd is also the date on which he announced that he would impose “reciprocal tariffs” on each country, considering tariff rates and non-tariff barriers to the United States. President Trump reaffirmed this plan to impose reciprocal tariffs, saying that he would impose reciprocal tariffs on “every country” and that there would be no exceptions.
Regarding reciprocal tariffs, he said, “We will be very fair,” but “we will be very generous. In many cases, the tariffs will be lower than what other countries have imposed on the United States for decades. “He added, “I think people will be very pleasantly surprised.”