Mea culpa.
I had my tarrif %’s wrong in a prior post.
EU tarrifs on U.S. cars is 10%, while the U.S. tarrif on cars from the EU is 2.5% - a 400% difference (U.S. 400% lower than the EU tarrif on cars).
EU cars are already among the most expensive in the U.S. If the U.S. raises its tarrifs on EU cars to match the EU tarrif, more EU car manufancrturing will shift to the U.S.
And U.S. cars imported to the EU? It’s small compared to U.S. car exports to the EU.
The loser would be the EU, losing car exports to the U.S. and seeing more EU cars manufactured in the U.S.
The loser would not be 27 of the 28 EU countries....the loser would be Germany (period).
When the EU wraps up this ‘hit back’....Trump will toss up another tariff, which likely only hurts Germany (not the other 27).
The EU will react by late fall, with another tariff on the US, and Trump will react with yet another tariff solely upon Germany.
No one realizes it, but this is almost a coordinated effort by France, Trump and most of the EU to downsize German economics. By spring of 2019...it’ll be obvious.