U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday auto tariffs will be around 25 per cent and he will have more to share on the topic on April 2.
On Friday, Trump said levies on automobiles would come as soon as April 2, the day after members of his cabinet are due to deliver reports to him outlining options for a range of import duties as he seeks to reshape global trade.
Trump has long pointed to what he calls unfair treatment of U.S. automotive exports in foreign markets.
The European Union, for instance, collects a 10% tariff on vehicle imports, four times the U.S. passenger car tariff rate of 2.5 per cent. The U.S., though, collects a 25 per cent tariff on highly profitable imported pickup trucks.
Trump on Tuesday also said sectoral tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips would also likely start at 25 per cent in April, with at least some rising afterwards over the course of a year.
Since his inauguration, Trump has imposed a 10 per cent tariff on all imports from China, on top of existing levies. He also announced, and then delayed for a month, 25 per cent tariffs on goods from Mexico and non-energy imports from Canada.
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He has also set a March 12 start date for 25 per cent tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum. Last week, he directed his economic team to devise plans for reciprocal tariffs on every country that taxes U.S. imports.
—Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Palm Beach, Florida; and Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Lisa Shumaker
