US President Donald Trump on Friday said he will increase tariffs on vehicles from the European Union to 25% next week, accusing the bloc of not complying with its 2025 trade deal.
Issued on: 01/05/2026 -
By: FRANCE 24
President Donald Trump said Friday that he will increase the tariffs charged on cars and trucks from the European Union next week to 25%, a move that could jolt the world economy at a fragile moment.
Trump said in the post that the EU “is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal", though he did not flesh out his objections in the post.
A trade deal, which was struck last summer, had capped the US tariff on EU autos and parts at 15 percent, which is lower than the 25-percent duty that Trump imposed on many other trading partners.
But in a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump on Friday said, "Based on the fact the European Union is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal, next week I will be increasing Tariffs charged to the European Union for Cars and Trucks coming into the United States," adding, "the Tariff will be increased to 25%".
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Trump did not give a further reason for the planned hike, but the announcement came a day after his renewed criticism of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Trump told Merz to focus on ending the Ukraine war instead of "interfering" on Iran.
Germany would likely be hit hard by a sharp tariff on cars and parts, as it is responsible for a significant amount of EU auto exports.
Trade deal reached last year
Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had agreed to the trade deal last July. It set a 15% tariff on most goods.
Both the US and the EU had previously confirmed their commitment to preserving the trade framework, known as the Turnberry Agreement, which was named after Trump’s golf course in Scotland.
But the status of the 2025 deal was first cast into doubt after the Supreme Court this year ruled that the Republican president lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency and charge tariffs on EU goods.
The initial agreement had been a tariff ceiling of 15% on goods from the EU, but the Supreme Court ruling reduced that to 10% as the Trump administration launched a new set of import taxes based on other laws.
The tariffs hit at a moment when the Iran war has crushed the world economy with expectations of slower growth and higher inflation, as oil and natural gas prices have risen due to the effective closure of the critical Strait of Hormuz after strikes by the US and Israel began at the end of February.
At the same time, Trump faces political pressure in the U.S. going into November's midterm elections because of rising levels of inflation. Trump, a Republican, returned to the White House last year on the explicit promise that he could quickly tame prices that jumped in the aftermath of the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, but higher energy costs pushed annual inflation in March to 3.3%, which was higher than what he had inherited.
Just 30% of US adults approved of Trump's handling of the economy, according to the latest poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Neither EU nor Trump administration officials responded to questions about the tariff increase and whether or how the agreement had been violated. But Trump has had a testy relationship with Europe, having threatened earlier this year to take control of Greenland and later blasting NATO allies for not providing more support to the US for the Iran war.
'Handshakes and winks and hopes that Trump doesn’t get mad'
To raise tariff rates, Scott Lincicome of the libertarian Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies said, the president would likely use Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which allows for duties on national security grounds.
Trump imposed 25% Section 232 tariffs on foreign autos in March 2025, but those tariffs were then lowered as part of the trade framework with the EU.
Lincicome also said Trump’s threats are “just another example of why these trade deals are vapourware. They all rely on handshakes and winks and hopes that Trump doesn’t get mad about something.’’
He said that as best he could tell the Europeans “were basically complying with the framework". The European Parliament has been moving slowly on the agreement but was expected to finish work on the deal next month.
The EU had said it expected the bilateral deal would save European automakers about 500 million to 600 million euros ($585 million to $700 million) a month.
The value of EU-US trade in goods and services amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in 2024, or an average of 4.6 billion euros a day, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.
“A deal is a deal,” the European Commission said in February after the Supreme Court ruling. “As the United States’ largest trading partner, the EU expects the US to honour its commitments set out in the Joint Statement — just as the EU stands by its commitments. EU products must continue to benefit from the most competitive treatment, with no increases in tariffs beyond the clear and all-inclusive ceiling previously agreed.”
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
Donald Trump's EU car tariffs ‘targeting Germany,’ says key German MEP
Euronews
German MEP Bernd Lange said US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on EU cars appears to target Germany, following Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s criticism of the US stance on Iran. However, the move would likely breach the EU–US trade agreement reached last summer.
Trump’s decision to slap 25% tariffs on EU cars is politically motivated and aimed squarely at German automakers, German MEP Bernd Lange (S&D), chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, told Europe Today on Monday.
“There are no legal or no economic reasons for those tariffs. This is really politically against Germany,” Lange said. “He is targeting specifically German car manufacturers.”
Lange’s remarks come days after Trump announced the tariffs, following criticism of the US war in Iran by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The US president has accused several European countries of refusing to contribute to Washington’s military operations against Iran. He also announced Friday that he would withdraw 5,000 US troops stationed in Germany.
If enacted this week, the measures would breach the 15% ceiling agreed under a trade deal struck in July 2025 between Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland.
Lange expressed doubts about the Turnberry agreement, which was reached after weeks of trade tensions between Europe and the US following Trump’s return to power and the launch of a nationalist trade agenda.
“I'm not sure that we can really go on,” Lange said of the deal.
Divisions over Parliament’s safeguards
The Turnberry agreement was later put on hold several times by MEPs, notably after Trump threatened tariffs on EU countries that refused to let him acquire Greenland.
“The mood in the European Union has changed, specifically after Greenland,” Lange said, adding that all retaliatory options were now on the table following Trump’s latest threats.
“We have the toolbox and of course all the tools are in,” he said, referring to the EU’s anti-coercion instruments designed to respond to economic pressure from third countries. “We will look also to other elements like countermeasures, like counter-tariffs or export restrictions.”
The agreement is now under discussion among EU governments and lawmakers, with a view to cutting EU tariffs on US industrial goods to zero as outlined in the deal.
MEPs have nevertheless built safeguards into the joint statement, including a “sunrise” clause that makes new EU tariff cuts conditional on the U.S. meeting its obligations, and a “sunset” clause that would terminate the agreement in March 2028.
However, EU member states remain split over these provisions, with France backing the European Parliament’s tougher line, while Germany has resisted it.
“Germany, unfortunately, was more in the camp of the second,” Lange said. “Now, I guess also here is a change.”
German minister calls on US to back down on threatened car tariffs
04.05.2026, DPA
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil called on Washington to stick to an agreement reached between the European Union and the United States that curbs tariffs on European products, after US President Donald Trump had threatened to impose higher duties.
"Europe stands by its commitments, and I now expect the same from the American side," Klingbeil told journalists in Brussels on Monday.
Trump announced on Friday that he intends to raise tariffs on cars and trucks imported from the EU to the US to 25%, arguing that the EU is not adhering to a trade agreement that limits US tariffs on most EU products to 15%. He did not elaborate on what the reported violations are.
The EU has rejected this accusation and threatened the US with retaliatory measures should it implement the announced tariff increases on EU goods.
"Our path is clear, we do not want an escalation. We want to find a common path with the Americans," said Klingbeil, adding that Europe "is prepared."
Klingbeil mentioned the dispute around the Arctic island of Greenland in January, when the EU was preparing to impose duties on imports worth €93 billion ($109 billion) after Trump had threatened Denmark and allied countries with punitive tariffs.
EU trade commissioner to meet US counterpart on Tuesday
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič plans to meet US President Donald Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer, on Tuesday, the European Commission confirmed.
The meeting is scheduled to take place on the sidelines of a gathering of trade ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) leading Western industrialized nations, said a spokesman on Monday in Brussels.
"I will not speculate on the result of these discussions at this stage," he said.
The commission spokesman said that if Washington was to take measures inconsistent with the agreement reached in July, the EU would keep all options open to protect its interests.
According to earlier statements, these could include additional EU tariffs on imports from the US or the use of other measures such as the exclusion of US companies from public procurement contracts or imposing additional duties on tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google and Meta.
"It's not the first time we have seen threats," he said, adding that the EU intends to remain calm and focus on implementing the agreement reached last July.
German trade group open to EU retaliation over new US car tariffs
04.05.2026, DPA
Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
A German foreign trade group on Monday signalled support for retaliatory EU measures if new US tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on cars imported from the bloc take effect.
"Possible countermeasures" could be discussed as soon as it is "clear" why exactly Trump is planning to impose new tariffs, to what extent and on what legal basis, BGA President Dirk Jandura told the Handelsblatt business newspaper.
While stressing that dialogue and negotiations were the means of choice, Jandura also said that it was key for Europe to "defend its interests clearly and consistently."
Trump said on Friday he will raise tariffs on cars and trucks imported from the European Union to 25% starting this week, accusing the bloc of failing to comply with a trade agreement struck last year.
The latest move marks a sharp escalation after months of relative calm in the tariff dispute. In August, Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed on a framework capping tariffs on most EU imports, including cars and car parts, at 15%.
In return, the EU pledged to scrap tariffs on US industrial goods and improve market access for agricultural products such as pork and dairy.
However, implementation has slowed amid renewed tariff threats by Trump and legal uncertainty following a US Supreme Court ruling in February that found many of his existing tariffs unlawful.
The European Parliament said in March that further implementation would be subject to strict conditions, with member states also required to approve the necessary regulations.
The president did not elaborate on how he believes the EU had failed to adhere to the terms of its deal.
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