Exports of the European Union to the United States are shrinking due to extra tariffs imposed on it since Donald Trump took office in 2025.
In a fresh development, Trump on Friday threatened to increase tariffs on cars and trucks imported from the EU to 25 percent.
The auto industry was one of the first and hardest hit sectors in the EU.
In 2025, auto exports from the EU to the United States dropped more than one fifth, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
And that happened while the bloc’s total exports to the United States were still rising.
Judging by Eurostat numbers, the negative impact of U.S. tariffs was spreading to other major trade categories in the fourth quarter of last year.
EU overall exports to the U.S. fell 15 percent year on year from October to December, dragged down primarily by steel and chemical products.
That downward trend extended into the beginning of this year, with sharp declines of nearly 30 percent in the first two months.
The EU’s trade chief has urged the United States to quickly restore the tariff levels agreed under last year’s EU-U.S. trade deal, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
On the same day, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Paris, France. A key concern for the EU remains Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on EU cars and trucks to 25 percent, according to Sefcovic.
Under the EU-U.S. trade deal reached in July 2025, the EU would suspend tariffs on all U.S. industrial products and introduce tariff-rate quotas for a wide range of U.S. agri-food products entering the EU market. In return, the United States would apply a 15-percent import tariff on most EU goods.
EU exports to US decline due to extra tariffs: data
U.S. exports and imports of goods and services reached 320.9 billion U.S. dollars and 381.2 billion U.S. dollars in March, respectively, resulting in a trade deficit of 60.3 billion U.S. dollars, according to data released by the Department of Commerce on Tuesday,
The deficit increased by 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, or about 4.4 percent, from the previous month. This marked the second consecutive monthly rise in the U.S. trade deficit, primarily driven by a surge in goods imports.
In March, U.S. goods imports rose by 10.6 billion U.S. dollars to 302.2 billion U.S. dollars, with increases noted in imports of motor vehicles and parts, consumer goods, capital goods, and industrial raw materials.
U.S. trade deficit grows in March