The European Union has vowed to take "proportionate and necessary" action after US President Donald Trump announced steep new tariffs on all foreign-made cars, a move set to fuel tensions with trading partners worldwide.
"What we're going to be doing is a 25 percent tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States. If they're made in the United States, it is absolutely no tariff," Trump said at the White House on Wednesday.
The measure will take effect at 12:01am eastern time on 3 April and will impact foreign-made cars and light trucks, with key automobile parts also to be hit within the month.
The move, part of a wave of tariffs introduced since Trump returned to the presidency in January, has heightened trade tensions with long-standing US allies.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the tariffs would hurt businesses and consumers, and warned that the EU was ready to strike back.
She reaffirmed the EU’s commitment to defending its industries, warning that Brussels was prepared to take "proportionate and necessary" counter-measures.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Trump’s new tariffs send a “fatal signal” to free and rules-based trade.
France leads EU fightback against Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs
Further threats
Trump has warned he could impose significantly higher tariffs on both the European Union and Canada if they work together in ways he sees as economically harmful to the United States.
"If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large-scale tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Peter Navarro, Trump's senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, later blasted "foreign trade cheaters" who he said turned America's once-bustling manufacturing sector into a "lower wage assembly operation for foreign parts".
"That threatens our national security because it's eroded our defense and manufacturing industrial base," he said.
Navarro took aim at Germany and Japan specifically for reserving the construction of higher-value parts to their countries.
Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has imposed fresh tariffs on imports from major US trading partners Canada, Mexico and China – alongside a 25 percent duty on steel and aluminium.
Trump escalates trade tensions with 200 percent tariff on EU wine, champagne
France defends EU interests
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot earlier said the European Union will respond in kind to any such moves from the US.
In February, Barrot emphasised that France and its European partners would not hesitate to defend their interests against US threats.
He noted that the European Commission is prepared to act, stating: "It is ready to pull the trigger when the time has come. Now this time has come. It is in no-one's interest to start a commercial war with the European Union."
'Direct attack'
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney branded the tariffs a "direct attack" on Canadian workers, saying that Ottawa was considering its own retaliatory measures.
The auto tariffs come a day before Trump plans to unveil additional duties aimed at countries he deems responsible for the US trade deficit.
The EU has indicated that it will delay its initial counter-measures until mid-April, which include a planned 50 percent tariff on American bourbon whiskey.
In response, Trump has threatened to impose a 200 percent tariff on all European wines and other alcoholic products should the bloc proceed with its plans.
The mounting tensions have raised concerns of a full-scale transatlantic trade war, with European officials vowing to coordinate a "decisive response" should Washington escalate the dispute further.
