German car shares dip on Trump tariff tweet

-
German Chancellor Angela Merkel receives U.S. President Donald Trump in the Hotel Atlantic, on the eve of the G20 summit, for bilateral talks on July 6, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany.

Shares in European carmakers took a hit on Friday, after US President Donald Trump redoubled his threats of tariffs against their cars.
Mr Trump tweeted that the US would place a 20% import tax on European cars, if the EU's "tariffs and barriers are not broken down soon and removed".
Shares in BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen each dropped more than 1%, before regaining ground.
Mr Trump's comment came amid a US national security probe of car imports.
Mr Trump launched the investigation last month, ordering the Commerce Department to determine if car imports are a risk to national security.
The US followed a similar process for the steel and aluminium industry, which led it to impose tariffs on the foreign metals this spring.
The EU, China, Mexico, Canada and India are among the places that have plans to retaliate or have already done so.
The decision to expand the Trump administration's trade disputes to foreign car manufacturers has come under fire from some in the US Congress, as well as many business lobby groups.
At a hearing this week, Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, said he was "stunned" that the Trump administration was investigating the national security risk of vehicle imports, which is estimated to affect about $200bn worth of imports.
He said the probe alienates allies and tariffs would lead to job losses and increased costs in the US.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yemen war: Saudi-led air strike on bus kills 29 children

-
Image
At least 29 children have been killed and 30 wounded in a Saudi-led coalition air strike in Yemen, the International Committee of the Red Cross says. The children were travelling on a bus that was hit at a market in Dahyan, in the northern province of Saada. The health ministry run by the rebel Houthi movement put the death toll at 43, and said 61 people were wounded. The coalition, which is backing Yemen's government in a war with the Houthis, said its actions were "legitimate". It insists it never deliberately targets civilians, but human rights groups have accused it of bombing markets, schools, hospitals and residential areas. Meanwhile the new UN special envoy to Yemen, former British diplomat Martin Griffiths, is planning to invite the warring parties to Geneva in September to discuss a framework for negotiations. Media caption UN envoy Martin Griffiths says that if peace efforts in Yemen fail, the world could be looking at “Syria-plus". He ...
Read more

Jean-Luc Mélenchon: French left-wing leader quizzed over cash

-
Image
French police are questioning left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon over fake-jobs allegations. His France Unbowed party is being investigated for possible misuse of European Parliament funds. On Thursday, prosecutors opened a separate inquiry for intimidation over his reaction to police searches at his home and party headquarters this week. A furious Mr Mélenchon, 67, was filmed on Tuesday "I am the Republic!" and shoving a police officer. He was shown confronting the officers, who had been despatched to gather evidence at his party's headquarters. "Get out of the way and open up this door," he shouted at the officer, before he and a group attempted to force their way into the premises past the guards. Inside, he told the prosecutor: "I'm the leader of an opposition group. You should not be treating me in this way!" Skip Twitter post by @Qofficiel [ #Thread ] Après la  #perquisition  menée à son domicile, Jean-Luc Mélenchon s’...
Read more

Trump says ready to meet Iran's Rouhani

-
Image
Donald Trump has offered to meet Iran's leaders with "no preconditions" and "any time they want". "I'd meet with anybody. I believe in meetings," the US president told reporters at the White House. Mr Trump's conciliatory approach comes after he and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani traded hostile warnings earlier this month. In May, the US left a deal which curbed Iran's nuclear activities in return for the lifting of international sanctions. Washington is preparing to re-impose sanctions on Tehran within days - despite objections from the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, which also signed the 2015 agreement. The US is deeply suspicious of Iranian activity in the Middle East and is an ally of Israel and Saudi Arabia, two of Iran's foes. "If they want to meet, we'll meet," Mr Trump said. Hamid Aboutalebi, an adviser to President Rouhani, tweeted in response to Mr Trump that  "returning to the nuc...
Read more