German industry expects severe hit from Trump tariffs

FRANKFURT/BERLIN (Reuters) - Far-reaching tariffs announced by the U.S. administration will deal a major blow to the German industry, a major exporter to the world's top economy, leading sector representatives said.

"To be very honest with you: we will feel it," Dirk Jandura, president of Germany's BGA association representing importers and exporters. "We will have to translate the tariffs into price increases, and in many cases that means a drop in sales."

The comment came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping duties on most global trading partners, including a 20% tariff on products from the European Union, while there is a separate 25% tariff for car imports.

The move marks the rejection of "the rules-based global trade order - and thus turning away from the basis for global value creation and corresponding growth and prosperity in many regions of the world," said Hildegard Mueller, president of the German auto industry association VDA.

"This is not America first, this is America alone," she said, adding the blow from the tariffs would be felt globally and cost jobs.

The U.S. was Germany's biggest trading partner in 2024, according to the statistics office, with 253 billion euros ($277 billion) worth of goods exchanged between them.

($1 = 0.9136 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Rene Wagner, editing by Tom Hogue and Thomas Seythal)