Of the 25 percent tariffs authorized for $50 billion of Chinese products, tariffs on $34 billion are in effect, and tariffs on the remaining $16 billion will be the subject of the public hearings. "Including cars - cars is the big one. And you know what we're talking about with respect to cars and tariffs on cars. The Commerce Department is investigating whether auto industry imports threaten US national security. The German auto industry employed more than 118,000 Americans, and 60 percent of what they produced was exported, according to Kempf.