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‘I Expect Them Before Christmas’: Trump’s Auto Tariffs Now Appear Foregone Conclusion
Donald Trump is mad at cars and people who make them.
Specifically, he's mad at General Motors because they can't sell enough of certain kinds of cars to keep factories open in key states. But he's also mad at foreign automakers because they sell cars to U.S. customers who might otherwise be buying the cars GM can't sell.
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‘They Better Damn Well Open A New Plant’: General Motors As Public Enemy No. 1
So, in order to get back at cars, he's going to slap tariffs on them to teach c
Trump has just explained that he’s discovered the “chicken” tax on light trucks, although I doubt anybody has explained why it’s called that. Theoretically the EU could call his bluff by agreeing to drop tariffs on US cars that nobody in Europe (and America) wants anyway. I say theoretically, because Trump would never agree to dropping the “chicken” tax now that he’s discovered the part it’s played in boosting US manufacturers sales of light trucks. In fact, getting the EU to drop its “unfair taxes” on US imported cars would be a win equal to his win in getting South Korea to raise its allowance of US car imports from 25% to 50% when they didn’t even reach the 25% target.