EU rejects claim that its car exports threaten US security

BRUSSELS — The European Union is rejecting claims that Europe’s car exports pose a threat to the United States after US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross ruled that imported vehicles and parts imperil national security.

European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said “the EU and the US are security partners (so) neither US nor European products can represent a security threat to the other side.”

US President Donald Trump is delaying for six months any decision to slap tariffs on foreign cars, a move that would have hit Japan and Europe especially hard.

Trump still hopes to use the threat of auto tariffs to pressure them into making concessions in ongoing trade talks.

Schinas says that “neither the US nor the EU can have an interest to enter a trade conflict.”