EU Targets US Tariffs Against If Trump Tariffs Cars

The European Union has nearly doubled to € 35 billion ($ 39 billion) the amount of US goods it will strike with retaliatory tariffs if President Donald Trump embodies the threat of EU tariffs on cars and auto parts.

European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström reported an increase from an earlier figure of 20 billion euros on Tuesday when she reiterated that the EU would reject any US demand to restrict the bloc's auto supplies to the US market on the basis that they represent a national base. security threat.

The € 20 billion figure was cited at the end of January by Jean-Luc Demarty, then Director General for Trade at the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, replaced in June by Sabine Weyand. Malmstrom told Bloomberg News on Tuesday that the new amount simply reflects the latest trade statistics.

“We will not accept any managed trade - quotas or voluntary export restrictions - and if tariffs existed, we would have a rebalancing list; it has already been prepared for a total of 35 billion euros, ”Malmström said on Monday to a committee of the European Parliament in Brussels. "I hope we won't use this."

Played in the shadow of the US-China trade war that has unnerved investors around the world, the transatlantic disagreement over tens of billions of dollars in European auto exports to the US market risks turning into a new headwind for the global economy.

Last year, Trump declared American steel and aluminum imports a national security threat and imposed tariffs of 25% and 10%, respectively, on shipments from around the world, including the EU. This prompted the bloc to adopt a 25% tariff on US $ 2.8 billion worth of goods such as Harley-Davidson Inc motorcycles, Levi Strauss & Co jeans and Bourbon whiskey.

A 25 percent US tax on foreign cars will add € 10,000 to the sticker on EU cars imported into the country, according to the Brussels Commission.

US tariffs on European cars and auto parts would herald a significant escalation of transatlantic tensions, as the value of EU auto exports to the US market is about 10 times higher than the block's combined steel and aluminum exports. As a result, European tariffs will target more US exports to Europe.

Caterpillar Inc trucks, Xerox Corp vehicles and Samsonite International SA luggage are among the US products that may face such retaliation from the EU, a senior European official said in late February, speaking on condition of anonymity.