President Trump said Friday that the European Union had offered a deal in which both sides would agree to zero tariffs on autos, but he rejected it because U.S. cars don’t sell well enough in the EU.
The comment comes as the president is threatening to hit the EU with 25 percent tariffs on autos and auto parts if his administration cannot reach a satisfactory trade deal with them.
“No, because a Chevrolet will never sell [in Europe] like a Mercedes sells here. They’ve offered me that,” Trump said on Fox Business Friday when asked if he would accept a zero tariff deal for both sides deal with the EU. “They’ve said, ‘Oh, I have an idea’ … They’ve offered me that deal. I wouldn’t do that deal. I would do it for certain products, but not cars.”
He added: “I’ll tell you what the end game is. They’ll build their plants in the United States and they have no tariffs.”
[Also read: Nonprofit group sues Trump administration over secret tariff document]
The U.S. and EU agreed to talks last year, but have yet to settle on date and have struggled to reach agreement on what they will even talk about. The Trump administration is demanding that the EU put its agricultural policies up for negotiation but EU officials have refused to allow that.
The Commerce Department sent the White House a still-confidential report last month that is widely suspected to back imposing 25 percent tariffs on autos and auto parts, a policy that would hit the EU hard. Trump has until mid-May to announce a policy based on that report.
Asked Friday if those imports posed a national security risk, Trump said, “Well, no. What poses a national security risk is our balance sheet.”
