Trump threatens tax on EU cars over tariff retaliation

President Trump threatened a new tax on cars imported from the European Union (EU) on Saturday in response to threats of retaliation against new U.S. tariffs.

The EU said Friday it was weighing potential tariffs against a wide range of U.S. goods in response to Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would impose tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum. 

“If the E.U. wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on U.S. companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax on their Cars which freely pour into the U.S. They make it impossible for our cars (and more) to sell there. Big trade imbalance!” the president said in a tweet Saturday. {mosads}

If the E.U. wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on U.S. companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax on their Cars which freely pour into the U.S. They make it impossible for our cars (and more) to sell there. Big trade imbalance!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2018

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the governmental body would consider imposing tariffs on three famous American products, including “on Harley-Davidson, on bourbon and on blue jeans — Levi’s.” 

“We would like a reasonable relationship to the United States, but we cannot simply put our head in the sand,” Juncker said. 

Trump has railed against a perceived trade imbalance in foreign-produced automobiles in the past, criticizing German and Japanese car companies for not making more vehicles in the U.S. During his presidential campaign, he threatened a 35 percent tax on any cars that are produced by U.S. companies overseas and then sent to the United States.