Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has pushed back the deadline for the Trump administration’s decision on automobile tariffs. A decision was previously expected by the end of this month but Ross has said the administration wants more time to study the matter.
“We just received elaborate questionnaires from the car companies, with zillions of pages, and that won’t be ready in five minutes,” Ross told the Wall Street Journal in a story posted Tuesday. “We’re running out of August.”
Ross has not set a new deadline for the decision.
The Trump administration has proposed additional 25 percent tariffs on foreign autos and auto parts imports. These would follow 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and 10 percent tariffs on imported aluminum it instituted earlier this year.
The tariffs, part of President Trump’s efforts to reorient trade policy, are proposed on national security grounds, the administration arguing that protecting domestic industries would fall under that justification. The Commerce Department was originally expected to produce a report in August that would justify the need.
Ross now says that ongoing negotiations with the European Union and the two North American Free Trade Agreement countries, Canada and Mexico, have given the administration reason to extend the deadline. In a joint press conference late last month President Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said they would begin talks on finding a way to eliminate all tariffs, barriers and subsidies between U.S. and Europe.
[Also read: Vehicle manufacturers say auto tariffs having negative effect]
