President Donald Trump plans to meet with his trade team on Tuesday to discuss a draft report on European auto tariffs, according to Bloomberg News, citing three people familiar with the matter.
Trump's focus remains on crushing foreign automakers with heavy tariffs, according to an Axios report earlier on Monday. The president reportedly sees the threat of auto tariffs as a successful negotiating tactic. Trump used the auto tariffs threat when he negotiated with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this year.
"Trump says gleefully that the moment he started talking about maybe tariffs on cars, that [European Commission President Jean-Claude] Juncker got on the fastest plane known to mankind, comes straight over to Washington and starts offering deals," a senior European official told Axios.
General Motors shares turned negative after the report, falling as far as $35.45 in trading. The stock closed nearly unchanged at $35.69 a share. Tariffs would be adverse to the U.S. automaker if other countries decided to retaliate.