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Stocks reversed early losses Wednesday amid reports that the Trump administration is planning to delay auto tariffs by up to six months. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.6%, or 17.09 points, as of 12:33 p.m. ET, as the materials sector outperformed. The Dow (^DJI) rose 0.48%, or 123 points, while the Nasdaq (^IXIC) edged up 0.98%, or 75.73 points. On Wednesday, several news outlets reported that the Trump administration is planning to pause on implementing auto tariffs ahead of a May 18 deadline. The Commerce Department had compiled a report earlier this year that concluded Trump could justify imposing tariffs...

EU Trade Commissioner Gives Ground: We’re Willing To Drop Auto Tariffs To Zero (If The US Will Do The Same)(Full Title) President Trump’s hard line on tariffs has won a significant concession from the European Union, at least the promise of one. Trump has been warning all summer that he could add a tariff on automobile imports which would have a significant impact on automakers in Europe (as well as Japan and Mexico). Today the European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said the EU was willing to drop all of its existing tariffs on cars and other goods to zero...

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is struggling to find a legal national-security rationale to slap 20% tariffs on automotive imports, but we’re told that President Trump has ordered him to find one anyway. There isn’t one. And if Mr. Trump goes ahead and claims there is he’ll be acting as lawlessly as Barack Obama did with his war on fossil fuels. Mr. Trump in May directed the Commerce Department to investigate whether foreign cars and automotive parts imperil national security under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. That law allows the President to restrict imports that he...