ISDS Case Map
automobiles
A revised free trade agreement between South Korea and the US is reportedly in jeopardy after President Donald Trump threatened to impose heavy tariffs on auto and auto parts imports.
Toyota supplier Denso expects $700m hit if levies are implemented.
Angela Merkel badly wants a trade deal to prevent Trump from carrying out his threat to put 25% tariffs on car imports into the US.
US President Donald Trump said that European leaders were coming to Washington next week to try to hammer out a deal focused largely on car tariffs.
The Mercosur bloc of four South American nations has offered to cut import tariffs on European Union cars by 50 percent .
The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET) said in its report that the KORUS FTA is rapidly losing its positive effects in terms of South Korea’s car exports to the United States.
Some industry observers saw this latest move as a US tactic to pressure Mexico and Canada to move quickly to agree to an overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Trump administration demands in NAFTA trade negotiations meant to push auto jobs back to the United States may not be enough to spark a shift in where automakers build cars and trucks.
Mexico is opening the door to compromise on the key Nafta issue of auto manufacturing, though it’s unclear if the flexibility is enough to reach a deal with the US and Canada.
The latest US proposal for increasing NAFTA’s regional automotive content would carry a four-year phase-in to meet a higher, 75 percent regional value threshold and new labor content rules requiring substantial work at wages of $16 an hour or higher.
