Trump Doesn't Have to Announce Auto Tariff Decision in May
Some experts are expecting President Donald Trump to announce a tariff plan in mid-May for autos -- even if he suspends implementation, as he did initially for Europe and NAFTA partners on steel and aluminum. But a new analysis says…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
he has many ways to put off revealing his cards. The Section 232 statute gives the president the option to deliberate for an additional 180 days after the first 90-day deadline -- that would move the decision date to Nov. 14. Peterson Institute for International Economics economist Jeremie Cohen-Setton wrote that there are other options for Trump to keep holding the possibility of tariffs over European negotiators' heads without laying out exactly what would be taxed and at what level. He could ask for a supplemental analysis, or another agency to weigh in, which in past actions delayed a decision by more than a year and a half. He could terminate this investigation, but then quickly restart it. "A Section 232 investigation on oil was, for example, first initiated in 1973, then in 1975, and again resurrected in 1978," Cohen-Setton wrote.