The United States plans to begin charging a 25% tariff on cars and trucks from the European Union next week, President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday.
The president said the fresh levy was necessary because “the European Union is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal,” although he didn’t provide specific details. Last summer, the U.S. and the bloc came to terms on a framework agreement that capped duties on most EU imports, including cars, at 15%.
On Friday, Trump did not indicate exactly how the new tariff would be implemented or interact with other provisions of the pact. However, the new tariff rate for EU vehicles would match the Section 232 levies on automobile and auto imports the U.S. installed last year prior to the agreement.
Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee, called Trump’s latest tariff threat “unacceptable” and refuted allegations that the EU was not complying with the agreement between the trading partners.
“This latest move demonstrates just how unreliable the US side is,” Lange said in a LinkedIn post Friday. He also alleged that the U.S. “has repeatedly breached the agreement,” citing the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
“Now we can only respond with the utmost clarity and firmness, drawing on the strength of our position,” Lange said in the post, although he did not elaborate on what shape the bloc’s response might take.
The agreement between the U.S. and EU has faced several roadblocks since Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shook hands to cement the pact in Turnberry, Scotland, last summer.
The EU has twice paused its efforts to implement the deal’s terms in response to actions from the White House, including Trump’s efforts to annex Greenland and the introduction of a new global 10% tariff. The Trump administration installed the global levy after the Supreme Court in February invalidated a swath of tariffs the president put into place during his first year back in office.
Most recently, in March, the European Parliament approved key provisions of the agreement while attaching several key safeguards, including a strengthened suspension clause, which would allow the bloc to suspend the agreement if the U.S. levies tariffs above the 15% cap set for EU goods. Following the legislative body’s approval, the bloc has been negotiating with individual member governments to shape the final legislation to implement the agreement.
“We are currently drafting the legislation; we have a parliamentary position and aim to finalise this in June,” Lange said Friday.
