German premium carmaker BMW said Wednesday it expected trade tensions between the EU and United States to subside despite US President Donald Trump’s threat to hike tariffs on European cars.
Trump said last week that he would hike the tariff on European Union cars to 25 percent, up from 15 percent, charging that the bloc was not complying with a deal unveiled last July.
After repeatedly delaying the deal, the European Parliament has given conditional approval to it but a final version still needs to be agreed to with the bloc’s member states — causing frustration in Washington.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday after the release of the company’s results, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said he thought the two sides would solve the impasse and spare carmakers from any further trade fallout.
“I remain optimistic because the pressure on the European Union is, of course, now mounting massively,” Zipse said on a call.
He also said Trump’s threat was “not entirely unexpected”.
“The American side implemented the deal over eight months ago, the European side still hasn’t,” he added.
READ ALSO: US threatens to scrap EU visa waivers over data sharing demands
BMW was in discussions with Washington to receive tariff relief, Zipse added, since BMW has its largest plant in South Carolina and is the United States’ largest car exporter.
“I am also confident that, over the course of the year, we will succeed in agreeing some sort of offset deal, which works in such a way that an offset is created for importers who are also exporters,” Zipse said.
“We’re getting a lot of support there but of course only if the European Union implements the first part of the deal,” he added.
Reporting earnings for the first quarter, BMW said net profit had fallen by almost a quarter to 1.67 billion euros, hit by fierce competition in China as well as tariffs.
Total tariffs — which apart from US duties also include EU duties on Chinese-made electric cars — cost BMW roughly 300 million euros in the quarter, finance boss Walter Mertl said on the call.
BMW stuck with its guidance for the year, expecting a “moderate decline” in earnings for 2026 versus last year, despite Trump’s latest tariff threat.
The carmaker’s shares were up 5.5 percent in Frankfurt after the results were released.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thelocal.de
