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Kupka: The Czech Republic could be more affected by tariffs on the import of automotive parts to the USA

by AI | 07.Apr 2025 | Europe in brief AI

Domestic companies import goods mainly to other European countries, which then sell them further to the USA.

Czech Minister of Transport Martin Kupka. Photo: EP/Ola Fras

Prague – The tariffs on the import of automotive parts into the United States, which are set to take effect on Saturday, May 3, could affect Czech manufacturers more than the so-called reciprocal tariffs announced this week. These currently have a rather secondary impact on the Czech Republic. This was stated by Minister of Transport Martin Kupka (ODS) in the discussion program Questions with Václav Moravec. The United States is the tenth largest export market for the Czech Republic.

Domestic companies import goods primarily to other European countries, which then sell them further to the USA. According to current estimates from the Ministry of Finance (MF), the new American tariffs will slow down Czech economic growth by 0.6 to 0.7 percentage points. A flat tariff of 20 percent will apply to imports from European Union countries starting next week. The tariffs on the import of automotive parts are set to be 25 percent from May.

How resilient the Czech economy is after the introduction of the US customs policy will be revealed in the coming months, according to Kupka. He believes it will help that Czech exports have begun to focus on various foreign markets in recent years. Last year, the American market accounted for 2.9 percent of the total export of Czech products abroad.

“If we are affected by the current tariff war of Donald Trump, it will be more through secondary impacts, as it will mean a weakening of the entire international trade. It will depend on what happens with the tariff on automotive parts, which is to be discussed. This could, of course, hurt Czech manufacturers more,” said Kupka. He added that the economy could slow down even faster this year than the MF estimates. (April 6)