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Automotive supplier industry opposes US trade-restrictive measures

Following the declaration by the US President on the imports of cars and parts into the United States, CLEPA, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers, opposes the application of trade restrictive measures.

 

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s (DOC) has submitted a report based on the findings of the extensive Section 232 investigation to U.S. President Trump, which concluded that imports of vehicles and automotive component parts into the US do pose a threat, impairing the national security threat of the United States. The U.S. President issued a proclamation on 17 May, directing the United States Trade Representative to pursue negotiations on automobiles agreements to address this alleged threat, which is deemed to harm the American automobile industry. The negotiation process will be led by United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and, if agreements are not reached within 180 days, the President will determine whether and what further action needs to be taken to adjust imports. This could mean that the US would introduce tariffs, quotas or caps on imports, unilaterally.

 

CLEPA defends free and fair trade, and highlights that any such possible measures would be highly damaging to the competitiveness and growth of the EU automotive sector. CLEPA supports the European Commission in its rejection of any voluntary trade restrictive agreement, introducing caps or quotas, which is considered to be WTO non-compliant.

 

Restrictive trade policies, furthermore, are detrimental to overall international trade. The EU is the US’s first trading partner in automotive component parts, whilst the US is EU’s 2nd trading partner after China. EU-US total trade in automotive component parts stands at 10.4bn USD, which underlines the importance of the US-EU relations and trade volumes.

 

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