US President Donald Trump has threatened to tax automobiles made in Germany if the European Union did not reduce trade barriers for US products in the region.

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The US president took to Twitter to say, “The European Union, wonderful countries who treat the U.S. very badly on trade, are complaining about the tariffs on Steel & Aluminum. If they drop their horrific barriers & tariffs on U.S. products going in, we will likewise drop ours. Big Deficit. If not, we Tax Cars etc. FAIR!”.

At a campaign rally on Saturday in Pennsylvania, Trump said, "we're gonna tax Mercedes-Benz, we're gonna tax BMW."

On Friday, Trump signaled beginning of a global trade war by imposing heavy tariffs on import of steel and aluminium in the US.

Signing two proclamations that levied a 25 per cent tariff on steel and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium, he claimed that the step was necessary to boost the industry in the country which was suffering from “unfair” business practices. However, he exempted Canada and Mexico.

His surprising announcements have left other countries worried as it comes as a threat of a global trade war. After the announcement of the move, the EU threatened an retaliatory measures including imposing import tariffs on products made in red districts.

First Published:Mar 12, 2018 5:32 AM IST