President Donald Trump gave auto stocks a boost on Monday after he tweeted that Chinese officials have “agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the US,” reports CNN.
Access to China’s auto market, the largest in the world, has been a consistent target for White House negotiators. Current duties for American cars stand at 40%, after Beijing imposed an additional 25% in July as the trade war gathered momentum.
Member’s of Trump’s team appeared to corroborate this focus on auto tariffs. Chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow told reporters that “we don’t yet have a specific agreement on that, but I will just tell you…we expect those tariffs to go to zero.”
Trade advisor Peter Navarro said that auto tariffs were “just one of the many tariffs that have to be reduced.”
There has been no confirmation yet from Chinese officials that such a deal is being pursued.