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As the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, new automobiles are seen queued up adjacent to the pier at the Port of Los Angeles, California, United States, on April 29, 2020. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters Reuters, WASHINGTON, July 6 – The Commerce Department released a private Trump administration report on Tuesday, which served as the basis for the previous president’s threats to levy tariffs on imported autos on national security grounds in 2019. In May 2019, then-US President Donald Trump announced that some unidentified imported automobiles posed a national security threat. He declined to release the report to Congress or the general public, prompting a lawsuit demanding that it be made public. “A brief check confirms what we expected: The justification for these tariffs was so utterly unjustified that even the authors were too embarrassed to let it see the light of day,” Republican Senator Pat Toomey, who authored legislation requiring the report’s publication, said in a statement. Trump promised, but never carried out, taxes of up to 25% on imported automobiles and vehicle parts. Tariffs, according to automakers, would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, hike vehicle prices, and jeopardize industry expenditure on self-driving cars. According to the redacted 116-page analysis, the top foreign-owned automakers’ research and spending reflected de facto subsidies in their home countries, citing Volkswagen AG (VOWG p.DE) and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T). “Significant import penetration over the last three decades has seriously harmed the United States’ automotive industry,” according to the report. This “endangers US military leadership and its capacity to meet America’s defense requirements,” according to the report. According to the research, American-owned producers include General Motors (GM.N), Ford Motor Co (F.N), and Tesla Inc (TSLA.O). Chrysler, which is owned by Stellantis NV, was not included (STLA.MI). The announcement is the latest reversal of a Trump-era decision by the Biden administration. President Joe Biden has struck a kinder tone with some of America’s trading partners. David Shepardson contributed reporting, and Cynthia Osterman edited the piece. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./nRead More

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