German Politician Says He Expects US Auto Tariffs in November

Peter Beyer, Germany's trans-Atlantic coordinator, told a Reuters reporter that he expects tariffs on imported cars from Europe to be imposed by President Donald Trump in November. Beyer, who met with members of Congress, White House staff and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative officials on July 9, said the U.S. is dissatisfied with the European Union's refusal to negotiate about agriculture in trade talks. “When it comes to the car tariffs, I unfortunately think they are more likely than not to be imposed in mid-November. There is quite a lot of impatience on the U.S. side. But that also requires us on the European side to be strong and unified.”

“The WTO arbitrator decision is expected soon, as early as next week. I fully expect the Trump administration to impose tariffs," he said. He told Reuters that he told USTR that imposing tariffs is not a great way to start talks to settle the 14-year-old WTO dispute involving subsidies for large commercial airplanes (see 1904090057).