TinFoilHatPreacherBear said:
We had the UK deal announced today. By all accounts it looks favorable for the US. This sets the stage for the other countries.
Also let's not forget the Ukraine deal. That's very noteworthy as well.
The drama queens are upset that Trump got this deal done, but everyone knows this is really a very positive sign.
Last, the world absolutely needs our trade. We don't need theirs nearly to the same degree. More countries will be making deals.
The internet has a long history. The drama queens here will have to eat their words when the deals start rolling. Crazy to think that countries won't deal, but drama queen TDS 2.0 gonna drama.
Well, it seems American car manufacturers aren't too keen on the deal. But I guess they are TDS 2.0 drama queens.
Sounds like the Brits got one heck of a deal. Less tariffs on British automobiles than American. But I guess given all of the negative publicity from taxing Americans and damaging businesses, Trump needed a win.
Golden Age indeed! No doubt making it cheaper to buy British automobiles than American, and making Americans foot the bill for it in the form of a more expensive product, will certainly make America great again!
https://www.yahoo.com/news/detroit-automakers-fuming-trump-first-120417900.htmlA lobby group representing General Motors, Ford and Stellantis attacked Trump for prioritizing a deal with the U.K. over the two largest U.S. trading partners on the country's doorstep. "
Under this deal, it will now be cheaper to import a U.K. vehicle with very little U.S. content than a USMCA compliant vehicle from Mexico or Canada that is half American parts," they said.
Detroit's three automakers blasted the White House for throwing the U.S. car industry under the proverbial bus with his U.K. trade deal.
On Thursday, a lobby group representing General Motors, Ford and Stellantis expressed "disappointment" their U.K. competitors are getting a better shake than they are despite British cars largely lacking any appreciable American content in the form of drivetrain and chassis components.
"
Under this deal, it will now be cheaper to import a U.K. vehicle with very little U.S. content than a USMCA compliant vehicle from Mexico or Canada that is half American parts,"
said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council.
Fortune reached out to the White House for comment, but didn't receive from a response outside normal business hours.
Blunt's criticism comes after Trump negotiated the tentative outline of a deal that would see among other concessions the U.S. drop its 25% sectoral tariff down to 10% of a vehicle's value, a level that reflects the U.K.'s own duty on imported cars.
While that is only valid for the first 100,000 vehicleswith any cars above and beyond that once again subject to the full dutyit neatly matches the volumes exported from Britain last year.
Blunt furthermore criticized that the "America First" president ought to have prioritized talks that help out his own domestic industry first, rather than invest political time and capital for the benefit of British rivals.
'Severe and immediate threat'
"
This hurts American automakers, suppliers and auto workers. We hope this preferential access for U.K. vehicles over North American ones does not set a precedent for future negotiations with Asian and European competitors," Blunt continued.
The timing of the tentative dealwhich is itself only a broad outline and has yet to be finalizedwas however governed by political realities on each side of the Atlantic.
Both U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Trump have been under severe pressure of late. The former's Labour party was just
trounced in local elections while the U.S. president's poll ratings have sunk after steering the country towards a
possible recession over a trade war with his
closest allies.
The agreement represents a
much-needed win for the two struggling statesmen, with Trump
trumpeting a "MAJOR TRADE DEAL" with a "BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED COUNTRY" on Truth Social before it was actually official.
While Blunt took aim at the agreement, his counterpart from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders was all too happy to hail it as "great news" for his U.K. industry.
"The application of these tariffs was a severe and immediate threat to U.K. automotive exporters, so this deal will provide much needed relief,"
said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes.
Blunt's candid criticism of the administration is unusual. Despite historically poor approval ratings for the president this early into a term, companies have been careful not to slight Trump given his reputation for governing based on instinct
rather than studied policy analysis.
The president even confessed being inclined to reduce tariffs he had unilaterally imposed without Congressional consent since they were deemed critical to U.S. national security. On Thursday, Trump told reporters he gave them preferential treatment, because he personally was
partial to Britain's ultra-luxury car brands like McLaren, Bentley and Rolls-Royce.
"That's really handmade stuff. They've been doing it for a long time in the same location," he remarked. "So I said, 'yeah, that would be good. Let's help them out with that one'."
Even though the 100,000-vehicle cap effectively puts a hard ceiling on further growth for the U.K. car industry, investors welcomed the trade deal by
bidding shares in Aston Martin Lagonda, the only British stock-exchange listed automaker, higher some 14% in Thursday's trading session.
