May 30 (UPI) — Proposed U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles and parts could cost the domestic economy 157,000 jobs, a study from a trade policy consulting firm said Wednesday.
A six-page policy statement by Trade Partnership Worldwide, a Washington-based trade and economic consulting firm, said auto industry tariffs proposed by President Donald Trump would ultimately be harmful to American workers.
A tariff on imported cars and parts, the report said, would positively impact a small number of workers in the U.S. auto manufacturing sector — but would lead to three jobs lost in other sectors for every job gained.
While auto industry employment would increase by about 93,000 jobs, another 250,000 in other sectors would be eliminated — amounting to a net loss of 157,000 jobs for the U.S. economy.
“If supporting jobs and strengthening the economy are the motivations for invoking national security reasons for imposing protection, such tariffs would have the opposite impact from that intended,” the report concluded.
It also said the tariffs would cause the U.S. gross domestic product to decline by 0.1 percent — and, for example, would add $6,400 to the price of a $30,000 foreign-made vehicle.
Trump’s administration has already announced a 25 percent tariff on Chinese imports, taxes on European steel and aluminum and demanded to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico before midterm elections in November.
A June 1 deadline was established for deciding whether to grant European Union countries an exemption from the tariffs.
