Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 6, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleChancellor Merz proposes duty-free U.S. car imports in exchange for tariff waivers after talks with Trump, aiming to enhance German-American trade relations.
BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that he would pursue a deal under which U.S. cars could be imported into Europe duty free in exchange for tariff waivers on the same number of vehicles exported to the U.S.
Speaking at an event in Berlin just hours after his inaugural trip to Washington for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, Merz said: "We have to see if we can come up with an offset rule or something along those lines."
"We agreed that we will have two representatives between the White House and the chancellery who will now talk intensively with each other about German-American trade relations," he added.
He said trade negotiations with the U.S. remained within the remit of the European Union, however, and that later on Friday he would speak to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to brief her on the outcome of his talks with Trump.
The news comes after sources told Reuters last month that Mercedes-Benz and German rivals BMW and Volkswagen were in talks with Washington over a possible import tariff deal.
Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius told Spiegel in an interview on Thursday that such a mechanism could act as a precedent for other industries.
(Writing by Friederike HeineEditing by Ludwig Burger)
Chancellor Merz proposed a deal for duty-free imports of U.S. cars into Europe in exchange for tariff waivers on German vehicles.
During his trip to Washington, Merz met with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss trade relations.
Merz stated that trade negotiations with the U.S. fall under the remit of the European Union, and he would brief EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen are reportedly in talks with Washington regarding a potential import tariff deal.
Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius mentioned that the proposed tariff offsetting mechanism could set a precedent for other industries.
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