EU warns US Commerce Department of counter-measures if car tariffs imposed

The EU has warned the US that imposing import tariffs on cars and car parts would harm its own automotive industry and likely lead to counter-measures by its trading partners on $294 billion of US exports. The EU said in a 10-page submission to the US Commerce Department sent last Friday that tariffs on cars and car parts were unjustifiable and did not make economic sense, Reuters said. The department launched its investigation on May 23 under instruction from President Donald Trump, who has criticized the EU over its trade surplus with the US and for having higher import duties on cars. The EU has a 10 percent levy, compared to 2.5 percent for cars entering the US. The EU exported €37.4 billion ($43.6 billion) of cars to the United States in 2017, while €6.2 billion worth of cars went the other way. The EU says that for some goods, such as trucks, US import duties are higher.