FRANKFURT, May 9 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's

premium brand Audi, which has no production in the United

States, expects current trade talks between Brussels and

Washington to provide some level of clarity over car import

tariffs soon, its CEO Gernot Doellner said.

European automakers are currently facing a 25% import tariff

in the United States, the world's second-largest car market,

causing many of them to pull their outlooks for 2025 and look to

Brussels to hammer out a bilateral deal.

"We expect to have clarity on this in the coming months and

also regulations that will make what is currently on the horizon

more bearable or manageable," Doellner said at an industry event

on Friday, without elaborating.

Doellner confirmed that a decision around U.S.

production would be made this year, adding both an Audi-specific

factory as well as producing within Volkswagen's existing

footprint were part of the strategic considerations.

Larger rival BMW earlier this week was more

optimistic about a trade deal,

expecting

U.S. car import tariffs to fall from July.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump and British

Prime Minister Keir Starmer

announced

a limited bilateral trade agreement that leaves in place

Trump's 10% tariffs on British exports but lowers U.S. duties on

British car exports.