BERLIN/FRANKFURT: A report that US President Donald Trump has threatened to pursue German carmakers until there are no Mercedes-Benz rolling down New York’s Fifth Avenue dented shares in the luxury car manufacturers on Thursday.
An excerpt from German magazine Wirtschaftswoche’s article, which cited several unnamed European and US diplomats but did not include any direct quotes, could not be independently verified, while a United States Embassy spokesman in Berlin referred questions to Washington.
The news and current affairs magazine said Trump had told French President Emmanuel Macron in April that he aimed to push German carmakers out of the United States altogether.
The Trump administration last week opened a trade investigation into vehicle imports, which could result in a 25 per cent tariff on cars on the same “national security” grounds Washington used to impose metals duties in March. — Reuters
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