Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro appeared on Fox News Thursday to discuss how the Trump administration plans to implement “fair trade” for the country, saying the issue shouldn’t be partisan as it benefits all Americans.
Trump announced the “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” on trade Thursday, signing a presidential memorandum that will seek “to correct long-standing imbalances in international trade and ensure fairness across the board.” On “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Navarro said other countries “cheat” the U.S. He said American-made cars are slapped with higher tariffs when sold to outside countries.
“The rest of the world cheats us. They steal our jobs. They steal our factories. They damage our defense industrial base and ultimately steal our national security,” Navarro said. “I want to tell you a little story about the problem we face. You take Europe, right? We run a $230 billion trade deficit, much of it in the auto industry.”
“So think about a Cadillac rolling off the assembly line in Lansing, Michigan, going over Bremerhaven and trying to sell into the German markets. A $50,000 car, when it starts here, goes over there. They slap a 10% tariff on us, which is four times more than our tariff on them. Then they put the VAT tax on, the value-added tax, which acts just like a tariff,” Navarro added. “It’s another 19%. So by the time the Cadillac gets there, it’s $65,000. We had to sell it at $65,000.”
Navarro used BMW as an example, saying that when the car arrives from Germany into the U.S., America only adds a “modest 2.5% tariff,” making the cost around “$51,000.” He said, though, that the “German government rebates their 19% VAT tax,” allowing them to sell their BMWs “for $42,000 versus a $65,000 Cadillac.” […]
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