Trump could have announced before the Saturday deadline, as he once remarked on Fox News, that foreign automobiles are not a national security threat. "Toyota Corollas and Volkswagen Beetles do not pose a national security threat," said Toomey. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, has been drafting legislation to limit presidential authority to impose national security tariffs without congressional approval. Threats to foreign auto plantsTariffs on cars from Japan and Europe would be particularly painful for conservative southern states with foreign auto plants. Republicans are unlikely to side with Trump on his claim that cars produced at those plants threaten national security.

Source: CNN May 18, 2019 18:00 UTC