Trump is aiming at imported cars this time.

On Tuesday evening, August 21, Trump reiterated at a rally in West Virginia:We will impose a 25% tariff on every car from the European Union.

 Prior to this, Trump had planed to impose high tariffs on imported cars from the European Union. In late May, Trump instructed US Secretary of Commerce Ross to launch a "232 investigation" to determine the impact of imported cars, trucks and parts on US national security.

The US Department of Commerce said at the time that the proportion of imported cars in US car sales has risen from 1/3 of 20 years ago to nearly half now, and the employment in the automotive industry is declining. Automobile manufacturing has always been a source of technological innovation in the United States. It will investigate whether the development of cutting-edge technologies caused by the weakening of the automobile industry will reduce the US economy.

In late July, Ross said at the hearing that it is still too early to talk about whether the Trump administration will continue to impose a 25% tariff on imported cars and auto parts.

At the end of the month, he said that the Ministry of Commerce may complete an investigation report at some point in August to provide advice for Trump on the national security threats that brought by imported cars.

But it's worth noting that just a few hours before Trump’s reiterating Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Ross said in an interview on Monday that it is not clear whether the investigation of whether to levy a car tariff will be 8 Published at the end of the month.

Ross said the delay was due to the fact that the United States is negotiating with Mexico, Canada and the European Union. He also hinted that it took more time to sort out the materials submitted by auto companies that opposed tariffs at home and abroad. These companies said that tariffs pushed up the cost of consumers and their own supply chains.

The above statement means that the Trump administration's entire auto tariff plan schedule will be postponed.

This statement by Ross has alleviated the automotive industry.

As early as July, representatives from US trading partners, car manufacturers, parts suppliers and distributors all opposed the increase of tariffs. They believe that tariffs may cause consumer prices to rise, thereby undermining the US economy and threatening employment.

According to US official data, the United States imported a total of 8.3 million vehicles last year, with a total value of $192 billion, including 2.4 million from Mexico, 1.8 million from Canada, 1.7 million from Japan, and 500,000 from Germany. In the same period, the United States exported a total of nearly 2 million vehicles worth $57 billion to other markets around the world.