Here is an excerpt from their conversation:

Paul Beckett:	Which countries have been the most affected? President Trump’s been on a tariff binge of late, so who got hit the hardest for autos?
Yuka Hayashi:	So, we haven't really quantified exactly the size of impact, but I would say Japan, South Korea, and Germany are the countries that are hit the most.
Paul Beckett:	They're obviously huge. Automakers are all brands. They all have brands that we know and see on the streets every day. But I guess the point is – these are big industries in those countries, right? Is that why they care so much about what Trump is doing on tariffs, on automobiles?
Yuka Hayashi:	Exactly. That’s exactly right, Paul. So, for Japan and South Korea, auto exports – exports of autos and auto parts to the United States – account for about one third of their overall exports to the United States. And for Germany, the figure is about 20%. And if you just look at Japan, the auto industry is just a very, very important part of the economy. So, the auto industry employs about 5.5 million people in Japan. The industry represents about 2.5% of the country's GDP. By a broader measure, the auto industry could be as high as 10% of the GDP, if you look at the kind of trickle down effects of the industry. So, it is just a very important part of Japan's economy. The numbers are pretty similar in South Korea as well. The leaders of Japan and Korea have been very vocal in opposing the tariffs, and they have tried hard, very hard to try to first completely reverse the tariffs. But then at some point they started focusing on reducing the level of tariffs.

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