Trump slaps tariffs on EU cars, trucks at 25% for not honoring trade deal

The US president said Friday he will next week raise a 25% tariff on cars and trucks from the EU, accusing the bloc of failing to live up to a trade deal. But he said vehicles assembled in American plants would be exempt from the higher duties. Trump announced the move in a post on Truth Social, calling it a corrective measure and a way to encourage manufacturers to boost production in the United States.

Donald Trump said: “I am pleased to inform you that as the European Union is not paying their fair share on Trade, we will be right now imposing Trade Tariffs on all European Union imported Cars, Trucks and Vans. The Tariff will be increased to 25 percent. It is fully understood and agreed that they will produce Cars and Trucks in U.S.A. Plants, NO TARIFF there will be. Right now, there are many Automobile and Truck Plants being built, with over 100 Billion Dollars being invested, A RECORD in the History of Car and Truck Manufacturing. There's nothing like what's happening in America today!" These Plants with American Workers will be opening soon.

The proposed increase would be a big step up in trade tensions. Donald Trump said the move was necessary to address non-compliance by the EU.

The US President also pointed to an increase in investment at home, noting that more than $100 billion is being invested in new car and truck plants across the country. He said the planned expansion is on an unprecedented scale, with multiple plants under construction and coming online in the near term, and employing American workers.

"Many Automobile and Truck Plants are being built, with over 100 Billion Dollars being invested, A RECORD in the History of Car and Truck Manufacturing. These Plants, manned by American Workers, will be coming soon - Never been anything like what is happening in America today! He wrote in his post, “Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Last July, Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck the trade deal. It put a 15 percent tariff on most goods. Both the US and the EU had previously reaffirmed their commitment to the Turnberry Agreement, named after Trump’s golf course in Scotland, to maintain the trade framework.

But the 2025 deal's status was first called into question when the Supreme Court ruled this year that the Republican president did not have the legal right to call an economic emergency and put tariffs on EU goods.

The original deal said that goods from the EU could only be taxed at a rate of 15%, but the Supreme Court changed that to 10% when the Trump administration put in place a new set of import taxes based on other laws. The Trump administration is looking into trade imbalances and national security threats in order to set up a new tariff system. This could put the deal with the EU at risk of being broken. The EU said that the deal between the two countries would save European carmakers between 500 million and 600 million euros (USD585 million to USD700 million) a month.

According to the EU statistics agency Eurostat, the value of trade in goods and services between the EU and the US was 1.7 trillion euros (USD2 trillion) in 2024, or 4.6 billion euros a day on average.

A deal is a deal,” the European Commission said in February after the Supreme Court ruling. “The EU looks to the U.S. to respect its commitments as set out in the Joint Statement, just as the EU respects its commitments as the United States’ largest trading partner. “EU products must continue to be treated most competitively, with no tariff increases above the clear and all-inclusive ceiling agreed before.