Trump threatens Europe automakers with steep tariffs amid looming trade war

US President Donald Trump has threatened to slap auto makers from the European Union with steep tariffs, further intensifying a looming global battle with American trading partners prompted by the newly declared 25-percent US tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

In a series of tweets from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday, Trump appeared to respond to warnings by European leaders about retaliatory measures against the sudden pronouncement of metal imports, citing a "big imbalance" in the EU-US trade to insist that if the bloc went ahead with the vow of imposing punitive taxes on American products, Washington would hit back against European car exports.

"If the EU wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on US companies doing business there, we will simply apply a tax on their cars which freely pour into the US," he said.

Trump further renewed his criticism of American trade policy, insisting that world leaders have "taken advantage of" the world's largest economy for years.

"The United States has an $800 Billion Dollar Yearly Trade Deficit because of our "very stupid" trade deals and policies," he tweeted. "Our jobs and wealth are being given to other countries that have taken advantage of us for years. They laugh at what fools our leaders have been. No more!"

Trump’s latest threat to hit European auto exporters with retaliatory tax could spell trouble for car manufacturers such as Volkswagen and BMW, two of the most popular European brands sold across the US. 

According to the US Census data, America annually imports more from Europe than the continent absorbs in US goods, to the tune of a trade deficit worth over $11 billion in 2017.

The development came as Trump's hasty decision to impose tariffs on steel imports spurred vows of a brewing trade war, stirring up both the political establishment and the global economic order. The move also prompted EU trade chiefs to weigh imposing a 25-percent tax on a broad array of US imports.

PressTV-Trump welcomes 'trade war' with other nations

Trump’s announcement to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum angered America’s major trading partners and sent global stock markets tumbling.

This is while European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker stated on Friday that the EU was preparing measures against leading US brands such as Levi's and Harley-Davidson, after Trump triggered a global chaos by declaring plans for tariffs on steel and aluminum, further describing trade wars as "good, and easy to win."

"We will not sit idly when European industry and jobs are threatened," Juncker emphasized on the sidelines of a conference in Hamburg, Germany.

EU's response matches similar measures during a 2003 "steel war" unleashed by George W. Bush's administration that eventually prompted the US to back down before the EU carried out its threat.

Trump has already accused the EU of hampering US imports, threatening to impose customs taxes on European manufacturers, particularly Germany and its high-end brands.

He has also been quite vocal in censuring the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which the US, Canada and Mexico are currently renegotiating. One aspect of the treaty is that any vehicle at least 65 percent assembled in one of the three countries can be sold without import tax.

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