Mubasher: US President Donald Trump is planning to put off a decision to levy duties on auto imports by six months in a bid to avoid scuttling negotiations with the European Union (EU) and Japan, Bloomberg reported.

President Trump will grant the EU and Japan 180 days to ink a pact that would “limit or restrict” imported automobiles and car components in return for postponing new auto levies, the news agency cited a draft executive order.

Trump was facing an 18 May deadline to decide on auto tariffs.

The White House has established that imports of vehicles into the US pose a threat to national security because they have harmed local producers and their ability to pump investments in new technologies, according to the executive order, which is set to be signed by Trump this week.

“The lag in R&D [research and development] expenditures by American-owned firms is weakening innovation and, accordingly, threatening to impair our national security,’’ the draft executive order said.

The Commerce Department issued a report in which it has concluded that the US innovation capacity faces a “serious risk as imports continue to displace American-owned production.”