Delays to implementing an EU-US trade deal are costing carmakers billions, Germany’s car lobby said on Tuesday, as it pressed Berlin and Brussels to get Washington to implement the agreement in full.
“The deal between the EU and USA has so far brought no clarity and no improvement for the German car industry,” said Hildegard Mueller, head of the VDA auto lobby in comments to business daily Handelsblatt.
“The costs have already run to the billions and are rising further,” she added.
US President Donald Trump and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck a deal at the end of July which the EU said would reduce Washington’s auto tariff from 27.5 to 15 percent.
But the US government has yet to withdraw its sector-specific duty on cars and Mueller said that nothing had changed for carmakers on the ground.
“The USA must withdraw its sectoral tariffs for the European and German car industry,” Mueller said.
“The EU Commission and the German government must make every effort to achieve this,” she added.
Speaking at a regular press briefing on Tuesday, EU trade spokesman Olof Gill said that he could not put a specific date on when the EU-US agreement would be firmed up.
“The commitment from the US is that the 15-percent across the board tariff will capture cars,” he said.
“We don’t know precisely when it will happen. We know that it will happen.”
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© Agence France-Presse
