Trump threatens 20pc tariff on all imported EU cars

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump threatened Friday to impose a 20 percent tariff on cars imported from the European Union, after the bloc´s additional tariffs on dozens of American products took effect.

"Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the US (...) by the European Union, if these tariffs and barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% tariff on all of their cars coming into the US build them here!" he said.

Trump has repeatedly warned he would not hesitate to slap additional duties on foreign imports to protect the US auto industry, notably on German cars. The Republican leader regularly laments seeing many Mercedes vehicles in the streets of New York, and not enough American cars in Europe. The new European tariffs, which took effect at midnight, are a response to Trump´s decision to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent duties on aluminium from many countries around the world, including some of Washington´s allies.