Same proposal as Mercedes-Benz
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is aiming for a deal in which the United States can export cars to Europe tax-free. In return, Europe would be allowed to import the same number of cars into the US without levies. Merz said this during a meeting in Berlin, a few hours after returning from Washington.
We need to see if we can come up with a compensation scheme or something similar,” said Merz, who was in the US for a visit to US President Donald Trump. He further said that representatives on behalf of both countries “will talk intensively with each other about German-American trade relations.”
According to data from the European automotive industry organization ACEA, more than 749,000 cars were exported from Europe to the US last year. That is more than four times the nearly 165,000 cars that came into Europe from the US.
The US currently has import duties of 25 percent on cars. Germany is sensitive to this because the country is economically very dependent on the export of cars from brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. CEO Ola Källenius of Mercedes-Benz already proposed a plan on Thursday that was similar to that of Merz.
The Chancellor further indicated that he will speak later on Friday with Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission. She will then be informed about the outcome of Merz’s visit to Trump.