We don’t normally report on political topics. FLATSIXES exists solely to bring you the best coverage of Porsche cars and the community that surrounds them. Especially in today’s highly polarized political climate, it wouldn’t normally be in our wheelhouse to touch on international trade conflicts. However, when the topic being discussed is a flat out blockage of all German luxury car imports, we are obligated to provide that horrifying news to our readers. Regardless of your political affiliations, we are forced to assume that if you’re reading a Porsche enthusiast site, you might not like the thought of Porsche disappearing from our shores. According to a report by Germany’s WirtschaftsWoche magazine, during French President Emanuel Macron’s state visit in April, President Donald J. Trump informed Macron of a plan to do just that. While no exact quotes are given, Trump allegedly said he would maintain this ban until such day as no Mercedes Benz models could be found on Fifth Avenue in his home New York City.
This protectionist, allegedly America First, kind of policy is not exactly out of character for Trump, as he’s previously alluded to those same Mercedes on Fifth Avenue in a January 2017 interview quoted in German magazine Bild. “When you walk down Fifth Avenue, everybody has a Mercedes-Benz parked in front of his house. You were very unfair to the U.S.A. It isn’t mutual. How many Chevrolets do you see in Germany? Not many, maybe none, you don’t see anything at all over there. It’s a one-way street.” While Mercedes has been singled out, and BMW has been mentioned by name in the past as well, the alleged policy could certainly effect all German imports equally. Just over a week ago, for example, Trump broached the idea of heavy import tariffs on cars that could reach as high as 25%.
While the policy is ostensibly intended to save American auto manufacturer jobs, what are the knock on effects to potentially closing over 800 Porsche dealerships nationwide? Would Porsche be forced to build an assembly plant on US shores to avoid the import ban? If a punitive tariff was put in place, would you pay an extra 25% to get a new Porsche? That would bump the base price of a new GT2 RS up to nearly $375,000! Give us your thoughts in the comments below.
View Comments (26)
Dont freak out. It is not right that the European nations put large tariffs on our products, but want
to enjoy theirs cars sold here. He is a business man, and he will run this country as one. The other nations have no choice but to have to make it fair both ways , or they lose. I have owned 13 Porsches
through the years, and quite a few Mercedes and BMW's. You need to let it play out. The United States is strong again.
"He is a business man, and he will run this country as one."
Hopefully not as he's not a successful business man having declared bankruptcy multiple times.
Well, we saw the result of a community organizer running the country as a community organizer.
He's not going to ban Porsche etc but the point is well taken. The US gets boned on our imports into Europe while they pour their cars into the US. It's about time we stop getting screwed
I'm sure you have proof of this? Probably about as much proof as POTUS has; zero. Still amazes me some people are still supporting him...
It's a last gasp from baby boomers, and for them the best distraction from serious matters is kneeling during the anthem.
Ron as they said in the beginning of the article, not a political magazine. That being said, maybe we just keep it in the political relam and not your personal view of the POTUS, thanks in advance Ron????
Agreed. This is the start of a negotiation. The Europeans have grown soft and fat on America's willingness to buy their goods and carry the defense burden as well.
AGREE !!!!
Tom, you hit the nail right on the head. Everyone freaks out when Trump tries to make the playing field level. When the essence of what he does is the playing field gets leveled and it's fair for everyone. I own 2 Porsche's and have no fear with this story.
Agree, no fear, at least yet. That is the President's negotiating style (Little Rocket Man, etc.) intended to get the attention of the players involved. Let's face it, there are not that many E and S Class, 5 and 7 Series, and Porsches, Jags, Alfas, Ferraris sold in the Big Picture USA, and folks at the high end of the market will buy what they want - remember Carter's "Yacht Tax"? Mercedes and BMW build thousands of vehicles in the US so they can balance a lot of that off. Porsche could have a problem, but again their "market" will likely pay the price. They already do if you consider that despite the great value of the new Corvette, a lot of Porsches are sold.
June 9 (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union clashed over trade tariffs at a summit of G7 leaders in Canada on Friday and Saturday, with U.S. President Donald Trump complaining his country has been unfairly treated in trade by the EU for decades.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the European Union and the United States have the largest bilateral trade and investment relationship in the world worth roughly 900 billion euros ($1.06 trillion) per year and growing. The trade created 6.9 million jobs in the U.S. Below are figures prepared by the EU for the summit meeting. More than 70 percent of all foreign direct investment into the United States comes from the European Union. This number has doubled over the last 15 years. U.S. companies earn more than twice as much exporting goods to the EU as they do exporting to China - 251.5 billion euros ($295.91 billion) compared to 115.4 billion euros ($135.78 billion) in 2017. U.S. companies earn some $106 billion more in corporate profits in the EU than EU companies do in the U.S. When these corporate profits are added to the U.S. trade balance, Washington has no trade deficit with the EU.
Some 2.4 million European cars are made in the U.S. every year.
Some 60 percent of German cars made in the U.S. are exported abroad. The BMW Spartenburg plant in South Carolina is the biggest BMW factory in the world, employing 10,000 people and exporting out of the U.S. 70 percent of what it makes.
Some 70,000 U.S. workers depend on jobs linked to the BMW group. Below is a comparison of peak import tariffs in selected sectors
Sector US EU Passenger cars 2.5% 10
- However, due outward processing (EU cars parts shipped to the US for assembly) a very large portion of US car imports into the EU is actually subject to a much lower import duty.
- In 2017, only 1 billion euros out of the total value of US cars imports to the EU of EU 6.5 billion was subject to the full tariff.
Road tractors and buses tractors up to 4% and buses 2% up to 16%
Bus & truck chassis up to 4% 19%
Trucks 25% 22% *These are peak tariffs, not average tariffs for a certain industrial sector or product.
Industrial sub-sectors where the difference between EU and US trade weighted tariffs is larger than 4%:
Subsector EU US Difference
Consumer electronics and video 13.8% 1.1% +12.7%
Passenger cars 9.9% 2.5% +7.4%
Other Vehicles (such as motorcycles and bicycles) 5.0% 0.9% +4.1%
Just put the same duty on EU imports into the US as the EU puts on imported cars - 10% and be done with it. There is another 19% VAT tax that all cars domestic and imported pay over that in Germany.
I don't think that it would make a big difference if that is done, but the playing field would be level. The fact of the matter is that the US does not make a lot of cars that are attractive to EU buyers. It is a different market over there.
Besides maybe the Jeep brand, we don't have much of anything that appeals to Europeans.
VAT is the same as a sales tax in the US- don't confuse that tax with tariffs
With a 25% tariff put on US cars they would still be cheaper than we can purchase a new Porsche here for in Australia, so stop crying, you have had it good for way to long.
What only $375,000 for a GT2RS, here in Australia you would be lucky to get one for nearly $700,000 if you can get one.
Playing hardball is fine by me, but a president acting like a 12 year old not getting your way doesn't work.
The report is purely speculation, relax.This is negotiation and how it starts with Trump. I think Mr. Brownell may be getting influenced by his friends in New York.
Shame on you if you even own a Porsche or other brand of German vehicle, and support this tariff talk! If you had an America First mindset then you should put your money where your mouth is and buy American exclusively.
However if you want some of the Best vehicles money can buy then persue your interest but don’t blame tariffs for the lack of innovation or quality vehicles coming from American factories.
This is idiotic. Trump is a thug and a bankruptcy artist. Legitimate business men pay their contractors and lenders. They do not steal money from people with fake universities. They are not racists and xenophobes. They don't promote burning coal as the energy of the future. Wake up and smell the coffee. Trade wars with our allies are meant to distract from an ongoing criminal investigation.
The man is a psychopath, a con artist, a covert neo-Nazi, and a Russian plant.
He hates German cars because Germany is anti-Hitler and his father was a KKK member and Hitler supporter in the 1930s.
So, wake up and smell the exhaust, that sure aint Castrol burning.
As an owner of German-built cars, including Porsche and Audi, I would be very upset if so-called German Luxury cars were priced out of my budget's reach due to tariffs. However, I am comfortably certain that such an eventuality is highly unlikely to come to pass. President Trump understands business. I must admit I have little knowledge concerning if there is actually an imbalance in trade regulations, including tariffs, that are placing artificial limits on the import and sale of U.S.-brand automobiles into European countries. I would be surprised if such government imposed barriers do not exist. So, threatening the raising of tariffs on imported German luxury cars could well be an opening gambit in getting the European's attention. If you have a stubborn mule that won't cooperate, the first big step is a strong blow to between the beast's eyes with a good length of 2x4. Just to get his attention. Once the European car makers get truly concerned and start calling in their political markers, the European governments may become more flexible and the threatened tariffs on our favorite cars will not materialize. At least for a very limited period time.