President Donald Trump on Friday said he will raise tariffs on automobiles and auto parts from the European Union because the 27-country bloc is not living up to its end of a trade agreement struck last summer.
“I am pleased to announce that, 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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The Tariff will be increased to 25%.”
The tariffs on European automobiles and auto parts are currently set at 15 percent as part of the Turnberry Deal, an agreement the EU and U.S. struck last July at Trump’s resort in Scotland. The deal required the EU to lower its tariff rates on U.S. industrial goods, purchase $750 billion worth of energy and invest $600 billion in exchange for lower tariff rates from the U.S.
Trump’s threat comes a week after the top EU trade official, Maroš Šefčovič, traveled to Washington to meet with Trump administration officials and came away reassured that the deal between the two countries remained solid.
