Donald Trump is increasing the tariffs charged on cars and trucks imported from the European Union to 25% in a sharp escalation of trade tensions with Brussels.
The US president accused the EU of “not complying with our fully agreed to trade deal” in a post on Truth Social, but did not explain how.
“I am pleased to announce that… next week I will be increasing Tariffs charged to the European Union for Cars and Trucks,” Trump said on Friday.
The European Commission responded, “We will keep our options open to protect EU interests”.
The Commission said the EU was adhering to its commitments but was also seeking “clarity” from the US around its commitments.
In targeting the automotive sector Trump has chosen a particularly sensitive target, as car manufacturing makes up a significant proportion of Europe’s economy.
The move comes less than a year after the EU and US agreed a deal at Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland, which set levies on most European goods at 15%.
That marked a reprieve for the EU from the 30% tariffs Trump had threatened to impose as part of his sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs. In exchange, Europe agreed to invest in the US and make changes expected to boost US exports.
However in the following months tensions mounted over President Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory. In January the European Parliament in January suspended the approval of the trade deal.
The deal was eventually approved by the European Parliament in March, but only after a clause had been added, allowing it to be suspended if the Trump administration was deemed to have “undermined the objectives of the deal, discriminated against EU economic operators, threatened member states’ territorial integrity, foreign and defence policies, or engaged in economic coercion”.
Since then talks have again stalled over a dispute about steel and aluminium. Major European economies such as Germany and France had rejected US plans to adjust tariffs on a wide range of goods.