German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that President Trump’s suggested tariffs on European cars could spark a trade war.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her nation's lawmakers Wednesday that President Trump's suggested tariffs on cars could spark a trade war. "We now have tariffs on aluminum and steel and we have a discussion that is far more serious," she said. "This is taking on the contours of a trade conflict — I don't want to use words that go any further. It's worth every effort to try and defuse this so that this conflict does not become a war.'' Trump recently raised the possibility of placing an import tax on vehicles made in the European Union.
"Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the U.S. & its 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 U.S. Build them here!" Trump tweeted last month.
In another tweet, he wrote: "Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the U.S. & its 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 U.S. Build them here!"