Washington, March 27, 2025 – President Donald Trump’s tariffs on auto imports will deal a heavy blow to European carmakers, especially German manufacturers, which rely on the US markets for a big chunk of their profits.
The move comes as the continent’s automakers have already seen their earnings slump in the past year, with some such as Volkswagen, Mercedes or BMW struggling in another key foreign market, China.
These SUVs would avoid US tariffs, but the US-made models are also exported abroad, exposing them to possible retaliatory duties.
BMW said Thursday that there would be no benefits to a trade conflict, urging Europe and the United States to rapidly reach a deal.
Mercedes called for an end to reciprocal tariffs.
The Stellantis group, which owns US brands Jeep, Dodge and Ram along with French auto company Peugeot and Italy’s Fiat, makes most of its sales in Europe but earns its biggest chunk of profits in North America.
Stellantis has factories in Mexico and Canada, but it would be less affected by the US-EU trade spat as it exports few made in America Jeeps to Europe and few Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Maserati cars to the United States as well as, ironically, the US-marketed but Italian-made Dodge Hornet.
Volvo Cars, which is owned by China’s Geely Group, sells popular SUVs in the United States that are made in South Carolina since 2015.
Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan told CNBC last month that the company was preparing itself “to see whether we need to start looking at production relocation or even supplier relocation to different parts of the world”.
Chinese-owned British Steel confirmed Thursday plans to shut blast furnaces and other operations in England, saying US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the sector were partly to blame for a decision which could cost up to 2,700 jobs.
The company said in a statement that “the blast furnaces and steelmaking operations are no longer financially sustainable due to highly challenging market conditions, the imposition of tariffs, and higher environmental costs relating to the production of high-carbon steel”.
People close to the matter told AFP that between “2,000 and 2,700” jobs could be lost at British Steel’s main UK site in Scunthorpe, northern England, as a result of the shutdowns which were first proposed in late 2023.
British Steel, owned by Chinese group Jingye, said it currently employs about 3,500 staff in the UK.
The company added that it would “consult on the closure of its two blast furnaces, steelmaking operations and a reduction of steel rolling mill capacity in Scunthorpe”.
Trump has slapped 25-percent tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium, raising fears of the knock-on effects for Europe’s beleaguered steel industry facing fierce competition from Asia. (AFP)
