Everything seems to confirm that US President Donald Trump will again postpone his decision to raise tariffs on foreign car imports for another six months. This decision, based on an investigation report under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, was expected on Wednesday 13 November, but had not yet been taken at press time.
The investigation report was sent to the White House on 1 February by the Department of Commerce (see EUROPE 12256/12, 12195/1) and Mr Trump had already postponed his decision to November 2019.
However, Mr Trump’s appetite for these new sanctions does not seem to have revived since then, and several elements will undoubtedly play a role in this decision.
On one hand, the lukewarm enthusiasm for this prospect across the Atlantic, as well as the prospect of counter-sanctions promised by the EU in retaliation, as the election campaign for the 2020 presidential elections begins.
For these reasons, the American President could choose to stick to the positive agenda of July 2018, the terms of which he defined with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. His attitude may also depend on the content of the report on the state of transatlantic trade negotiations, which the United States Office of the Trade Representative (USTR) is expected to provide on Wednesday 13 November, and whose content could lead President Trump to consider the status quo preferable.
Another indicator pointing in this direction is that, according to several American media reports, European car manufacturers have promised Washington jobs and investments in their factories in the United States.
The USTR also reportedly asked international car manufacturers how much they had invested in the United States, according to the New York Times. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)