German car dealers bracing for ‘tragic’ Trump tariffs

Ask auto dealers what they make of Donald Trump threatening to tax imports of European models, and they’ll tell you buyers of those cars might as well throw the money saved on their tax bills out the driver-side window.

“It’ll have one of the most negative effects on his presidency and anything good he’s done,” Marc Cohen, the vice president of Priority 1 Automotive Group, said after the president tweeted a threat that sank shares of carmakers including Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG.

Trump’s rhetoric against cars made in Germany, Japan and Mexico was common on the campaign trail and continued early on in his presidency.

But there was little follow-through for America’s auto dealers to worry about – until lately. With the administration now investigating whether auto imports pose a national security threat and vowing to slap levies on China-built Buicks and other models within weeks, salesmen in showrooms across the country are sitting up in their chairs.

“It’s definitely got legs under it now, and it’ll be tragic,” said Cohen, who sells BMW, Porsche and Audi vehicles in Baltimore.

The U.S. imported about 1.16 million vehicles from EU countries last year, according to Commerce Department data. BMW AG and Mercedes-benz maker Daimler produce hundreds of thousands of sport utility vehicles in the U.S. South, so the more common models arriving on American shores are sedans such as BMW’S 3 Series and 5 Series, and the Mercedes E-class.