Senior German officials reacted with defiance and surprise on Monday to comments made by Donald Trump, who said in an interview that NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was "obsolete" and threatened Germany's carmakers with hefty import taxes.
Donald Trump declared in an interview with the German daily Bild and The Times of London that German car companies could face tariffs of up to 35 percent if they set their plants in Mexico instead of the U.S. and try to sell cars to United States from there.
Some government officials believe that it is not about tariffs, they believe that U.S. needs to build better cars to gain market share.
BMW will go ahead with its plans
BMW stated on Monday that it would stick to its plans to produce cars in Mexico because the output is aimed at the world market, thus, the car factory in Mexico will complement ... the production plants in China and Germany.
Donald Trump has threatened many companies lately with tariffs if they set their plants in other countries instead of United States.
Tariffs could hurt the US car industry
Tariffs would make "the American auto industry worse, weaker and more expensive," according to Sigmar Gabriel, the German economy minister.
Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor, suggested more self-confidence when dealing with Donald Trump. He declared: "We are not weak and inferior."
Trump stated that BMW could face high tariffs if the german company goes ahead with plans to build a plant in Mexico to export those cars to United States.
Responding to Trump's complaint that German automakers don't behave fairly because a lot of German cars are seen in the U.S., but few American cars in Germany, Gabriel suggested the solution might be that "the U.S. needs to build better cars."
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