The United States can impose tariffs on $7.5 billion in goods

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

The World Trade Organization on Wednesday authorized President Trump to impose tariffs on about $7.5 billion worth of European goods, capping a 15-year trans-Atlantic dispute over illegal subsidies to aircraft maker Airbus and opening the door to a major escalation in a broader trade war with the European Union.

Robert E. Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, has promised to implement the tariffs on European aircraft and helicopters as well as consumer goods such as wine and Gouda cheese “immediately” following the WTO ruling. The European Union has vowed to retaliate with its own levies on American products. Lighthizer has said the U.S. will keep the tariffs in place until European officials agree to end subsidies for Airbus. With Trump considering the imposition of separate 25 percent tariffs on European autos, trade relations between the U.S. and its closest allies are set to sour even as the U.S.-China trade war drags on.

The global trade body earlier this year already had ruled in favor of Washington in its long-running complaint that European governments backed Airbus with generous multi-billion dollar subsidies in its battle against Boeing Co., its U.S. rival. Wednesday’s ruling determined the value of the authorized U.S. tariff action.

The ruling came one day after the WTO slashed its forecast of global trade growth to just 1.2 percent this year, down from 2.6 percent in April. Next year, merchandise trade volumes are projected to increase by 2.7 percent compared with an initial 3 percent estimate and WTO economists cautioned “that downside risks remain high and that the 2020 projection depends on a return to more normal trade relations.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-united-states-can-impose-tariffs-on-75-billion-in-goods-because-european-union-gave-illegal-subsidies-to-airbus-wto-rules/2019/10/02/021edc06-e51d-11e9-b403-f738899982d2_story.html

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Full headline: The United States can impose tariffs on $7.5 billion in goods because European Union gave illegal subsidies to Airbus, WTO rules

[nycbos]

1. But but but.....

I was told this system was rigged against the US.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. The world no longer looks to Europe for automotive manufacturing

Engineering quality, manufacturing, durability, long term value is in Japanese autos. There are mechanics on youtube testifying to that idea.

[Happy Hoosier]

3. Interestingly....

.... the engineering innovations the Japanese implemented were largely American ideas.

American auto makers didn't see any reason to adopt them. Meanwhile, Japanese makers, lead by Toyota, took advantage of the post-war opportunity to transform their engineering and manufacturing processes. Some American makers have adopted these methods, but unlike the Japanese makers, when budget cuts comes, QA suffers. This is borne out by the fact that Japanese maker factories in the USA generally maintain higher quality. The Japanese makers view these processes as core to producing a quality product, and avoid cuts that impact design or manufacturing quality.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. A car is a complex item

if you're assembling large component parts sourced from generic manufacturers, is it a perfect fit for the part of the car you do produce? If a company is not willing to invest in design, testing, manufacture, and production, then the engineering is suspect in my view. There are vehicles expected to last 100,000 miles or so. There are transmissions that have problems at 75k. There are also vehicles that can run 400,000 miles if the maintenance is properly followed. So yes, quality, quality, quality, but there are deep aspects needed to produce quality.

[Rainbow Droid]

5. Exactly right. A W123 will run -forever- due almost entirely to engineering quality.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. if you can float the maintenance costs

But you have them on any high mileage vehicle. i find maintenance intervals more frequent at high mileage. Or maybe it's age. What do I know.

[iluvtennis]

7. first China, now Europe. All a part of trump's plan to tear down the American economy. Now

consumers will have to pay 25% more for that BMW, Volvo, Audi, etc. Doesn't trump get it, American manufacturing capabilities can't support this - they are no US manufacturers to fill the gap. All trump's policies do is hurt American consumers