da flag go to the original language article
This article has been translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The news agency is not responsible for the content of the translated article. The original was published by Ritzau.

Industry Director: Everyone loses on Trump’s car tariffs

by AI | 27.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

Branch manager does not believe that there will be any winners in the game of tariffs on non-American cars.

Branch director does not believe that there will be any winners in the game of tariffs on non-American cars. Photo: Alejandro Martínez Vélez / Europe Press.

It’s hard to find bright spots or positive angles on the announcement from American President Donald Trump that all non-American cars will be subject to a 25 percent tariff when imported into the USA. At least if you ask Gitte Seeberg, who is the CEO of the Danish Automobile Importers Association.
– The bottom line is that everything will end up being more expensive for everyone, and I think initially it will hit American car buyers the hardest.
– Many of the American manufacturers have placed parts of their production in Mexico and Canada, and some parts go back and forth across the border several times. Therefore, their cars will also be affected by the tariff, she says.

However, Gitte Seeberg is not blind to the fact that the impact will also hit Europe – and especially Germany, because it will become harder to sell cars to Americans.
– It will of course also affect the struggling German car industry and thus also the Danish companies that supply parts to it.
– We have always hoped for a recovery that can get things moving in Germany again, but this will naturally slow down that movement, thinks Gitte Seeberg.
She praises the EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, for the intention to try to reach a negotiated solution with the Americans that can mitigate some of the damage.

Gitte Seeberg predicts that the American tariff could trigger a chain reaction, shifting some of the cars’ previous routes from producer to consumer.
– It may mean that the cars that were originally intended for the American market are sent elsewhere, for example to Europe.
– We also see that the Danes have begun to embrace Chinese cars. Even though there may have been a bit of skepticism, perceptions have changed recently, and therefore we might see even more Chinese cars in Denmark in the coming years, she says.
Gitte Seeberg does not expect that a potential European retaliatory tariff on American cars will have a significant impact on the Danish market. Many of the American brands sold in Denmark have production in Europe or China, and therefore the tariff will have no effect on these cars. This includes Tesla, which has a large factory near Berlin.