BERLIN: Mercedes-Benz has proposed 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 that EU automakers export to the U.S., the company’s CEO said in a German magazine interview.
“For every car that leaves the USA or Europe, a car from the other side comes in duty free,” Ola Kaellenius told Spiegel. “We have put this idea to both sides and it is a possible component of the negotiations between the USA and the EU.”
Such a deal could act as a precedent for other industries, Kaellenius added.
Mercedes-Benz, and German rivals BMW and Volkswagen, are in talks with Washington over a possible import tariff deal, sources told Reuters last month.
In a separate interview with the Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper also published Thursday, Kaellenius said Mercedes-Benz was available as a “sounding board” for - and to contribute ideas to - EU and U.S. trade talks.
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“As a company, we hold talks with political decision-makers – in the EU as well as in China and the U.S.,” said Kaellenius.
“However, negotiations take place at EU level because trade policy falls within the EU’s remit. We are available as a sounding board, contributing ideas and presenting scenarios showing how certain decisions would affect us,” he added.
Kaellenius’ interviews were published hours before Germany’s new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, holds his first face-to-face talks with U.S. President Donald Trump as Europe seeks to stave off looming U.S. tariffs.
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