President Donald Trump is said to want heavy tariffs slapped on luxury imports from German automakers. We'll see how well/not well that goes.
According to German publication Wirtschaftswoche and highlighted on Business Insider, Trump made the remarks of hitting German automakers with tariffs to French president Emmanuel Macron during a phone call, using unnamed diplomats as sources with no quotes or verification.
German automakers and the auto market currently accounts for close to 90 percent of U.S. luxury vehicle market share, accounting for 650,000 vehicles imported into the country in 2017. It is the also the country's largest auto trading partner, with mainstays like BMW, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, and Audi.
Donald Trump is threatening to smack some tariffs on German automakers.
Is That A Threat?
If a deal is ever to take place, some vehicle models, such as the G-Class and the Volkswagen Golf, may be exempt, as they are manufactured in Australia and Mexico, respectively.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Commerce cited automobile imports as a "national security" threat as a reason to hike tariffs up to 25 percent, with telling language by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, remarking "there is evidence suggesting that, for decades, imports from abroad have eroded our domestic auto industry."
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