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Riding The Rails Episode 13: RailRiders reliever Tommy Kahnle

<p>BRUSSELS (AP) &#8212; The European Union on Monday slammed the Trump administration for considering tariffs on auto imports, saying they could lead to global retaliation against some $300 billion in U.S. goods amid signs of a brewing trade war.</p><p>European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the U.S. investigation into the possibility of auto tariffs &#8220;lacks legitimacy, factual basis and violates international trade rules,&#8221; just like last month&#8217;s U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.</p><p>The EU sent comments to the U.S. for consideration in the Department of Commerce investigation into whether auto imports pose enough of a threat to U.S. national security to justify tariffs and estimating the economic impact.</p><p>President Donald Trump cited national security concerns for the previous tariffs. The EU, which described the move as &#8220;pure protectionism,&#8221; introduced duties on U.S. products in return, as did Mexico, Canada, Turkey and India.</p><p>&#8220;European cars do not threaten or impair the health of the U.S. industry and economy,&#8221; Schinas said. He noted that European car makers create over half a million jobs in the U.S.</p><p>In its submission, the EU argues that trade restrictions would likely to lead to higher costs for U.S.-based producers, and in effect become a tax on American consumers. This would only be aggravated by the likely counter-measures the 28-nation bloc and other trading partners might take.</p><p>The EU responded to the steel and aluminum tariffs with &#8220;re-balancing measures&#8221; that hit around 2.8 billion euros ($3.25 billion) worth of American-made products.</p><p>The EU said the U.S. auto industry is in good health, but any restrictive duties could undermine that trend.</p><p>The impact of retaliatory measures by Washington&#8217;s trading partners could total around $294 billion &#8212; or around 19 percent of total U.S. exports in 2017, the EU estimates.</p><p>Last week, European Council President Donald Tusk warned that Trump&#8217;s policies are harming trans-Atlantic relations and that &#8220;we must be ready to prepare our Union for worst-case scenarios.&#8221;</p><p>Tusk thinks Trump&#8217;s action on tariffs, pulling out of the global climate agreement and withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal &#8212; an agreement the Europeans say is vital to their security &#8212; is part of a pattern rather than isolated incidents. Any tariffs on EU cars would hit Germany hard.</p><p>EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said that while the EU does have higher tariffs on cars than the U.S. &#8212; around 10 percent versus 2 percent &#8212; the tariffs only apply to a fraction of the car market, around 15 percent. The U.S. has higher tariffs on trucks and other products, she said.</p><p>Malmstrom said the EU cannot lift its car tariffs for the United States or it would have to do so for the rest of the world, and &#8220;there&#8217;s no way&#8221; EU member countries would agree to that.</p><p>Despite questioning the probe&#8217;s legitimacy, the EU has requested to take part in a Commerce public hearing on July 19-20.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">In this January 2017 photo, cars are parked waiting to be exported at Yokohama port near Tokyo. Japan&#8217;s government has warned in a report that a higher U.S. tariff on auto imports could backfire, jeopardizing hundreds of thousands of American jobs created by Japanese auto-related companies, raising prices for U.S. consumers and devastating the U.S. and global economy. (Kyodo News via AP) </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_120772358-d645b0b3ea9e40999f1050f474346910-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>In this January 2017 photo, cars are parked waiting to be exported at Yokohama port near Tokyo. Japan&#8217;s government has warned in a report that a higher U.S. tariff on auto imports could backfire, jeopardizing hundreds of thousands of American jobs created by Japanese auto-related companies, raising prices for U.S. consumers and devastating the U.S. and global economy. (Kyodo News via AP) </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Lorne Cook</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

EU warns Trump: Auto tariffs could lead to $300B retaliation