The U.S. Commerce Department is holding a hearing on the Trump Administration's proposal for tarriffs on auto imports.
The proposal has triggered a massive backlash from auto group representatives and foreign governments,... including South Korea.
Kim Hyesung reports.
The U.S. Commerce Department held a public hearing on Section 232 on Thursday as it investigates whether car imports negatively impact U.S. national security.
Auto industry representatives and more than 40 delegates from foreign governments presented their case against the Trump Administration's proposal of a 25 percent tariff on auto imports.
U.S. carmakers said the tariffs would cause the price of a car imported into the U.S. to jump by an average of almost six-thousand U.S. dollars and U.S.-made ones by about two-thousand dollars.
They also warned tariffs would lead to less investment in the U.S., job losses, and would hurt the overall U.S. economy.
The Peterson Institute for International Economics has warned the tariffs, even without retaliation, could lead to the loss of 195-thousand American jobs.
The U.S. imported more than 200 billion dollars in foreign cars and trucks last year, and major exporters to the U.S., including South Korea, the EU, Canada and Japan have voiced their opposition.
South Korea's deputy trade minister Kang Sung-chun said Korea's auto exports in no way threaten U.S. national security, and the Trump administration's concerns about the U.S. auto industry have already been addressed in the recent amendment to the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
The European Union warned it will retaliate if the U.S. goes ahead with auto duties, emphasizing its opposition to the administration's continued protectionist moves.
In Thursday's hearing, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said it's "too early" to say if the administration would decide to impose the new levies.
The Commerce Department started its investigation into auto imports in May.
It's expected to review the roughly 2,300 comments submitted during Thursday's hearing, and announce its final decision by next month.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.