In a letter to President Donald Trump, the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) has joined critics of the Administration’s plans to impose duties of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.
“The tariffs announced today will be detrimental to the motor vehicle parts supplier industry and the 871,000 US jobs it directly creates,” MEMA President and CEO Steve Handschuh, whose organization represents more than 1,000 companies in the United States, said. “We have voiced repeatedly that while we support the administration’s focus on strong domestic steel and aluminum markets, tariffs limit access to necessary specialty products, raise the cost of motor vehicles to consumers, and impair the industry’s ability to compete in the global marketplace. This is not a step in the right direction.”
Theirs is not the only negative reaction. The announcement from the Trump Administration sparked a plummet in the Asian stock market, and both Canada and the European Union said they would retaliate against any restrictions on trade.
“When two people quarrel, a third rejoices,” Sigmar Gabriel, the German foreign minister, said in a statement while warning the EU would respond decisively if jobs were threatened. “Therefore I hope that the president would reconsider his announced plans. We must do everything to prevent an international trade conflict.”
Meanwhile, MEMA argues the tariffs would hurt the largest sector of manufacturing jobs in the United States. Handschuh talked in his letter of the integrated global supply chain MEMA members rely on to conduct their business. While motor vehicle manufacturers currently predict continued job growth in the country, that fact relies on there being no adjustments to steel imports.
“Disruptions to supply chains or increases in production costs will not contribute to the national security of the United States,” Handschuh said.