Good news -- Trump is not going to annihilate the auto industry this weekend.
Having been granted the authority by the Commerce Department, Trump could have imposed tariffs on foreign cars and car parts on Saturday, May 18th, but multiple outlets reported this morning that the decision will be delayed.
Sources who spoke to Reuters say the White House informed automakers that he won't fuck their entire world just yet.
A formal announcement is expected by Saturday, the due date for Trump to make a decision on recommendations by the Commerce Department to protect the U.S. auto industry from imports on national security grounds, the officials said. [...]
The White House has held a series of high-level meetings on the issue in recent days, and administration officials have repeatedly told automakers they planned to delay the decision.
In February, the Commerce Department submitted its “Section 232” national security report to the White House. The agency was investigating whether imports harmed U.S. national security by weakening American automakers’ ability to invest in future technologies. The Commerce Department’s specific recommendations have not been revealed.
Just because tariffs on foreign cars and parts are being delayed now does not mean they will be delayed forever. Trump also delayed his increased tariffs on Chinese goods in November of 2018, but he imposed them last week.
Tariffs on foreign cars and parts are presumably being delayed so European, Japanese, and American officials can negotiate, but I don't necessarily find that comforting. We've seen how well the Trump regime's negotiations with China have gone.
At the end of the day, Trump doesn't really make "deals" because his idea of a deal is not what most humans consider to be a deal.
It's not immediately clear what the new deadline for Trump's tariffs on foreign cars and parts will be, but I assume it will be arbitrary. Trump never formally set a deadline for his increased tariffs on Chinese goods. He imposed them on a whim last week.