German car manufacturers employ 50,000 US workers. BMW is a net exporter of cars from the US. Every BMW X3 and X5 in the world is made in Spartanburg, SC. In 2016 BMW made 400,000 in Spartanburg and exported 280,000.
The President’s statement that Germany exports “millions of cars” to the US is false. In 2016 Mercedes and BMW exported 480,000 cars to the US from Germany. The “Trade War” that he is fighting, and the threat of tariffs, has already made BMW begin the process (not previously contemplated) of moving some of Spartanburg’s production to China, the largest foreign purchaser of X3’s and X5’s. This will mean the loss of jobs not only to BMW factory workers in the US, but also loss of jobs at all of the suppliers who have placed manufacturing in the foreign trade zone right next to the BMW plant. It’s a real shame. Trade wars are not “good” and they are not “easy to win”.
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I don’t no what is going on in his head.
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I can guaranty what ever is there is no relation to logic.
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Like the famous song from Pink Floyd “there is someone in my head but its not me”
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Why would that reality be surprising, at this point?
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At least trumps opponent lost.
Among his many opponents were many decent people qualified for the job and able to take advice from other qualified decent people.
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Of the six people so far that responded to this story, it seems that only one actually clicked on the link to read past the headline. I’m the second click on this story.
After first checking the calendar to make sure it isn’t April 1, I clicked on the story and it seems the body of the article moderates the headline statement to Trump simply wanting to impose tariffs on imported cars.
The headline is hyperbole at best, yellow journalism at worst. If it had been true, the story would have been all over the mainstream media.
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Newspaper and magazine headlines on line have been following internet’s “click bait” model more and more it seems.
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I reread the linked story and could find nothing that indicates that the President actually made that statement, beside’s it’s a figure of speech and like all figures of speech, it’s a hyperbolic statement.
“I’ve told you a million times”
“This bag weighs a ton”
“I have nothing to wear”
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Calvin Coolidge said “Every word a president says weighs a ton.” In Calvin’s case, hyperbole in the service of wisdom and truth and self-control.
Do you folks really want to go down this path again? Heads exploding. Panicky people going from one subject to the next to try to find anything to howl at the moon about? Let’s just sit back and relax and see how things work out and enjoy the popcorn.
If you like your Mercedes you can keep your Mercedes, really.
I’m re-reading my book on all the US Presidents and it was interesting that Washington warned of the danger of deep political divides way back then. Loosen up.
Regardless of the veracity of the article as mentioned above, this is 100% true…and a lot of people are going to be hurt due to the trade wars that are forthcoming. (and to stay car related), even if they do “ban german cars” it won’t affect me as I don’t own one nor do I plan on owning one anytime in the near future
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Tell that to President Trump. He is the king of deep political divides. He used fear and hate to get elected. He treated anyone in his way badly, belittling them and calling them crooks. Mr. Trump still does this often. When did he deal with issues? He dealt in personalities, and in a most offensive way. I agree that Mrs Clinton was a poor excuse for a presidential candidate, too, but that does not excuse the bad behavior of our president.
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There are americans whose livelihoods and families will be directly affected by this situation we’re discussing
I’m sure they don’t want anybody telling them to “relax” or “loosen up”
No offense intended . . . I respect your opinion, even though I may not always be in agreement 
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Unlike his predecessor…“the unifier”…
;-]
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How does talking about any other president make the current president look good? I was a Republican for 30 years until the party went so far away from traditional Republican values that I couldn’t remain. Note that a lot of people feel the same way. Almost half of registered voters are not Republican or Democrat anymore; most are unaffiliated. That speaks poorly for both parties.
The Great Engineer Trump, expert at “unscrambling” eggs and making water flow uphill.
After WW II, Dr. Ludwig Erhart revived the West German economy by essentially a “laissez-fair” economic model.
The British scoffed at those ugly VWs, the Swiss said German cameras were marginal, etc. Hard work and salesmanship put the country back on its feet. The government did not pick winners. Marshall Aid was appreciated and used very effectively.
Yeah, because Fortune magazine is such a radical, left-wing publication.
NOT!