Proposed Washington tariffs could halve German car exports to U.S.: Ifo

[February 15, 2019]  BERLIN (Reuters) - Proposed 25 percent import tariffs on cars by the United States could cut German car exports to the U.S. by up to 50 percent in the long-term and heavily affect exports to other countries, a study by the German Ifo institute showed on Friday.

Cars and containers are pictured at a shipping terminal in the harbour of the German northern town of Bremerhaven, late October 8, 2012. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

"These tariffs would cut total car exports from Germany by 7.7 percent, which would amount to 18.4 billion euros," Gabriel Felbermayr, foreign trade expert at Ifo, said in a statement.

The U.S. Commerce Department is set to meet a Sunday deadline to deliver its recommendations to President Donald Trump on whether imported vehicles and parts pose a national security risk, and to outline options on how to address the issue, officials said on Thursday.

(This story corrects to change to "billion" from "million" in 2nd paragraph.)

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Tassilo Hummel)

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.