Donald Trump’s next big tariff move might be on imported cars and car parts. Trump has instructed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to begin an investigation into whether car imports pose a national security threat. Republicans are not happy about this:
Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who worked closely with Trump to pass last year’s tax reform bill, called the new investigation “deeply misguided.” [...]
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) criticized the Trump administration for launching the probe under the “false pretense” that car imports pose a threat to national security, which he said “invites retaliation and weakens our credibility on actual trade disputes.”
It’s not just Republicans who are unhappy, though. One possible motive for Trump’s auto tariff threat is to put pressure on Mexico and Canada in NAFTA negotiations:
The idea that cars made in Canada, very often by U.S. companies using U.S. parts, “could in any way pose a national security threat to the United States is frankly absurd," Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters in Ottawa.
Unions appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach on the tariff threat, with UAW President Dennis Williams saying that “I’m not going to say that I'm 100 percent behind it because I don't know what all those mechanics are yet.” The UAW does have some locals in Canada.