The threat of (more) US tariffs on EU cars has been making the news again today:
President Donald Trump said Tuesday night that the U.S. would slap a 25 percent tariff on cars coming from the European Union.
The president's statement came hours after The Wall Street Journal reported that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he had postponed an August timeline to publish a report on auto tariffs.
"We're going to put a 25 percent tax on every car that comes into the United States from the European Union," Trump said at a campaign rally in West Virginia.
Ross told The Journal that it wasn't clear that a report on potential tariffs would come out by the end of August. The Commerce secretary also declined to set a new timeline, according to the newspaper. He said the report was being delayed because of ongoing negotiations with Mexico, Canada, and the European Commission.
Note: as user3000140 correctly pointed out below, Trump's comments were taken out of context, as he was referring to his threats before the meeting with Juncker. But I still think the question is generally valid, since Section 232 investigation into cars is continuing.
So, has the EU said anything publicly in response?
In July Trump had agreed to put this threat on hold. Actually back then there was a technical analysis by the EU:
Auto tariffs at the level Trump has threatened would add about 10,000 euros (US$11,700) to the sticker price of a European-built car sold in the U.S., according a European Commission assessment obtained by Bloomberg News last month. That would cut U.S. imports of European cars and car parts in half, the commission forecast.
That isn't big news. I want to know if the EU is going to do anything (else) to prevent it or if the EU threatened more tariffs of their own in return.