Donald Trump’s EU car tariffs ‘targeting Germany,’ says key German MEP in World Economy News 05/05/2026 German MEP Bernd Lange said US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on EU cars appears to target Germany, following Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s criticism of the US stance on Iran. However, the move would likely breach the EU–US trade agreement reached last summer. Trump’s decision to slap 25% tariffs on EU cars is politically motivated and aimed squarely at German automakers, German MEP Bernd Lange (S&D), chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, told Europe Today on Monday. There are no legal or no economic reasons for those tariffs. This is really politically against Germany,” Lange said. “He is targeting specifically German car manufacturers.” Lange’s remarks come days after Trump announced the tariffs, following criticism of the US war in Iran by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The US president has accused several European countries of refusing to contribute to Washington’s military operations against Iran. He also announced Friday that he would withdraw 5,000 US troops stationed in Germany. If enacted this week, the measures would breach the 15% ceiling agreed under a trade deal struck in July 2025 between Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland. Lange expressed doubts about the Turnberry agreement, which was reached after weeks of trade tensions between Europe and the US following Trump’s return to power and the launch of a nationalist trade agenda. “I’m not sure that we can really go on,” Lange said of the deal. Divisions over Parliament’s safeguards The Turnberry agreement was later put on hold several times by MEPs, notably after Trump threatened tariffs on EU countries that refused to let him acquire Greenland. “The mood in the European Union has changed, specifically after Greenland,” Lange said, adding that all retaliatory options were now on the table following Trump’s latest