Germany's Largest Automakers Back Abolition of EU-U.S. Car Import Tariffs (TACH; And Why Wouldn't They?)

EDITOR's NOTE: Europe accounted for half (80.3%) of all exported vehicles during 2016. In second place, Asia shipped 26.6% worth of vehicles followed by 20.6% for North American exporters. Latin America excluding Mexico was responsible for 1.3% of the global total with Africa at 1%. Led by Australia, Oceania in the South Pacific generated just 0.2%.

Washington DC June 20, 2018; When the U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, returns to Washington for consultation with the administration Wednesday, he will be carrying a peace offering for President Donald Trump from Germany's leading automakers, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Their proposal, people familiar with the situation say, is simple: Abandon all import tariffs for cars between the European Union and the U.S. That would mean scrapping the EU's 10 percent tax on auto imports from the U.S. and other countries and the 2.5 percent duty on autos' sent to the U.S.

As a prerequisite, the Europeans want Mr. Trump's threat of imposing a 25 percent border tax on European auto imports off the table. Over the past few weeks, Mr. Grenell has held closed-door meetings with the chiefs of all major German automotive companies, including bilateral meetings with the CEOs of Daimler AG , BMW AG, and Volkswagen AG , which operate plants in the U.S. Overall, Germany's auto makers and suppliers provide 116,500 jobs in the U.S., according to the Association of German Automotive Manufacturers.