President Donald Trump threatened a 20 per cent tariff on cars imported from the European Union unless the bloc removes import duties and other barriers to US goods, escalating a global trade war the EU warned could endanger $300 billion in commerce.
“Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the US and it great companies and workers 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!” Trump said in a tweet on Friday.
The EU planned to retaliate, according to a European Commission memo obtained by Bloomberg. “An introduction of US tariffs would be met with equivalent penalties imposed by affected trading partners,” it said.
Shares of Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW fell in Frankfurt, and US auto companies erased earlier gains in New York trading.
Trump’s tweet came hours after the EU imposed tariffs on about $3.3bn of American products in response to his barriers to imported aluminum and steel.
The European tariffs target politically resonant products, including 25 per cent duties on goods including Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Levi Strauss jeans. The EU measures cover a total of around 200 categories, also including various types of corn, rice, orange juice, cigarettes, cigars, t-shirts, cosmetics, boats and steel.
Trump’s latest salvo against the European auto industry threatens to broaden a trade war that he’s already sparked with China. The US has pledged to impose 25 per cent tariffs on $34bn in Chinese goods on July 6, and China vowed to retaliate in the same amount of US imports.
The US may justify the auto tariffs on the grounds of national defense, just as it did in March when imposing duties on global imports of steel and aluminum. Trump initially exempted the EU from the metal tariffs, but let the temporary reprieve expire after negotiations with the Europeans fell apart.
America’s Ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell is in Washington this week seeking a deal on auto levies.
He spoke to White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin about reducing existing tariffs on cars shipped between the US and Europe to zero. There’s support in the administration and from German car makers for such an idea, but no agreement has been reached yet.
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The US Commerce Department in May started investigating whether imports of cars and light trucks hurt America’s ability to defend itself by eroding the country’s auto industry. If the findings show a threat to the U.S., a 1960s-era trade law gives the president authority to impose import restrictions without congressional approval.
Many lawmakers have been critical of Mr Trump’s use of the trade law, which was rarely applied before he took office. Mr Ross during a Senate hearing on Wednesday faced heated questions from GOP lawmakers who argued there was no merit to claiming auto imports threaten the country’s defense capabilities.
Bill Reinsch, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and former commerce official, said the president’s tweet may undermine his government’s argument for auto tariffs.
“Having ordered an investigation into whether auto imports are a national security threat, he has now undercut that by reaching his conclusion before the investigation has barely begun,” Mr Reinsch said. “It’s a classic case of ‘ready, fire, aim,’ and it will only lead to litigation in the US and a loss at the WTO when we are inevitably taken there.”
The Washington trade association for BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen’s operations in the US warned consumers will be harmed by higher tariffs. “Consumers fare best when tariffs are low,” Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said in a statement. The group also represents General Motors And Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
Mr Trump’s tariff rhetoric further undermines a US auto market already in its second year of decline after record sales in 2016, said Cody Lusk, president of the American International Automobile Dealers Association. He pointed to Daimler’s decision on Thursday to pare its profit outlook as an early example.
“You’re already going to see prices going up incrementally as a result of the steel and aluminum tariffs in the auto sector,” said Mr Lusk, whose group represents foreign-branded auto dealers in the US “All of that combined with increasing interest rates is a recipe for disaster.”
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
General%20Classification
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Shahi
Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan
Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.
Favourite activities: Bungee jumping
Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
Quick%20facts
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The biog
Alwyn Stephen says much of his success is a result of taking an educated chance on business decisions.
His advice to anyone starting out in business is to have no fear as life is about taking on challenges.
“If you have the ambition and dream of something, follow that dream, be positive, determined and set goals.
"Nothing and no-one can stop you from succeeding with the right work application, and a little bit of luck along the way.”
Mr Stephen sells his luxury fragrances at selected perfumeries around the UAE, including the House of Niche Boutique in Al Seef.
He relaxes by spending time with his family at home, and enjoying his wife’s India cooking.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
