Photo by Torsten Dettlaff on Pexels.com

According to Bloomberg, the Trump administration threatened a tariff of 20% on cars imported from the European Union if the EU does not remove import duties on U.S. goods.

President Trump tweeted:

“Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the U.S. and it great companies and workers by the European Union, if these Tariffs and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the U.S. Build them here!” Trump said in a tweet on Friday.

Not mentioned in the Bloomberg article – but some European manufacturers already make vehicles in the US. For example, Mercedes-Benz builds their GLE SUV, GLS SUV, the C-Class and the GLE Coupe in Alabama. BMW builds their X3, X4, X5, X6, and X7 models in South Carolina. Mexico is also host to manufacturing for Audi’s Q5 and VW’s Tiguan and Jetta models.

The EU has already imposed tariffs on $3.3 billion in U.S. goods and would impose further tariffs in the event the U.S. goes through with the import car tariffs.

Further updates will be posted as they become available.