US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced plans to impose sweeping 25 percent tariffs on cars from overseas, days before he is expected to announce wide-ranging levies on other goods from around the world.
“What we’re going to be doing is a 25 percent tariff for all cars that are not made in the United States,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “We start off with a 2.5 percent base, which is what we’re at, and go to 25 percent.”
The announcement drew swift condemnation from the EU and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who called it a “direct attack” on Canadian workers.
Photo: AFP
“We will defend our workers, we will defend our companies, we will defend our country and we will defend it together,” Carney said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, described the move as “bad for businesses, worse for consumers.”
Trump later threatened further tariffs if the EU worked with Canada “in order to do economic harm to the USA.”
Writing on his own social media platform, Truth Social, he said if they did so, “large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!”
In Taipei, the government is still clarifying the exact details of the planned tariffs, but would assist affected industries if necessary, Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) said yesterday at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee.
Taiwan currently has about NT$3.1 billion (US$93.6 million) in auto-related exports to the US, of which more than 90 percent are all-terrain vehicles with engines of 1,000cc or less, Chuang said.
The government is still working to clarify whether these products would be subject to the tariffs, but if they are, the Ministry of Economic Affairs would likely work with affected companies to mitigate the tariffs’ impact, Chuang said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said his government was considering “appropriate measures” in response to the announcement.
“Naturally, we will consider all options,” he added.
South Korea’s auto sector would face “considerable difficulties” when the tariffs came into effect and the government was planning an emergency response by next month, South Korean Minister of Industry, Trade and Energy Ahn Duk-geun told a meeting of industry officials yesterday.
The tariffs would go into effect on Wednesday next week, Trump said, adding that the US would begin collecting them the following day.
“This is very exciting,” he said, suggesting the move would spur economic growth.
Trump last month floated the idea of a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles, but offered no other details. The president on Monday hinted that the auto industry levies could come in “the very near future”.
Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Germany are among the top car exporters to the US.
White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf said the new car tariffs would result in more than US$100 billion in annual revenue to the US.
On April 2 — a day Trump has dubbed “liberation day” — the US president is expected to unveil a wide range of so-called reciprocal tariffs: levies on imported goods that the Trump administration argues are unfairly taxed by the US’s trading partners.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS