Politics

(Washington)

You know that Mercedes or BMW you have sitting in your driveway? Kiss it goodbye, maybe. In a move that seems likely to cause as much consternation at home as abroad, President Trump is planning a broad ban on German luxury cars. Trump’s proposals have ranged from a 25% tariff on German cars (extremely heavy) to outright bans. He reportedly told French leader Emmanuel Macron that he would maintain his trade policy until “no Mercedes models rolled on Fifth Avenue in New York”.


FINSUM: BMW alone makes $8-9 bn in annual revenue from sales of cars in the US. If Trump wanted to start a bitter trade war, this would be a good first step. Americans aren’t going to like this one either.

(Washington)

First it was North Korea calling the summit into question, and then this week President Trump cancelled the meeting entirely. Now, despite Trump’s cancellation, Pyongyang says it will still meet with the US. Just minutes after Trump cancelled the summit, a senior North Korean leader said “We had set in high regards President Trump's efforts, unprecedented by any other president, to create a historic North Korea-US summit … We tell the United States once more that we are open to resolving problems at any time in any way”.


FINSUM: While it might be a bluff, we take it as an encouraging sign that North Korea is so eager to meet with the US.

(Detroit)

Just when it seemed like trade war ambitions were over for the White House, they are rearing their head again. President Trump has ordered the US Commerce Department to investigate whether the extensive use of foreign parts in the US auto industry is a threat to national security. The mandate he is using for doing so—Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, is the same as he used for his tariffs on aluminum and steel last year.


FINSUM: While we do understand the national security considerations, this could hurt both the car industry (because of increased costs) and spark retaliations from trading partners.

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