The advantages of the Trump administration's ‘reciprocal’ tariff structure for EU industry on the US market are likely to outweigh the direct impact of the 20% tariff that EU exports will now face. A commentary by Daniel Gros

Imposing such high tariffs on BEVs from China without any evidence of damage to EU industry does not make sense and will only backfire on the ability of EU industry to export their own cars.

European automakers currently face increasing pressures. While the region’s manufacturers long dominated global sales revenues, several competitors from Asia have recently moved into the top ten.  But European companies have faced similar difficulties before, and the responses of the region’s automakers and policymakers to previous challenges offer insight for the present, especially on the issues of global competition and energy transition.