The 15% customs duties that will be applied to European cars entering the United States as part of the Agreement with the European Union announced on Sunday ‘weighs the German car manufacturers, deplored the VDA sector Federation on Monday.
‘The 15%American customs duties, which also apply to automotive products, will cost billions each year to German automobile companies,’ said Hildegard Mueller, president of the Federation of German Automobiles VDA.
For the automotive sector, the pillar of the German economy and the country’s first industrial sector, these customs surcharge will be added to an already difficult situation between increased Chinese competition and cost of the turn to electric mobility.
The United States represented last year the first outlet for vehicles exported from Germany (13.1%), even if many German manufacturers have factories located on the other side of the Atlantic where it produces for the American market.
For the Federation of German Manufacturers, the EU is now all the more called upon to make the framework conditions in Europe competitive at international level for investors and businesses, in order to become a more attractive and more attractive ‘investment place.
The agreement between the EU and Washington provides customs duties on all European imports in the United States, at a single rate of 15%, including all already existing taxes. European car manufacturers have been paying customs duties of 27.5%since April.
/ATS