Trump threatens high tariffs on Canada and the EU if they collaborate to cause "economic harm" to the US

The president, Donald Trump, threatened Thursday to impose more tariffs on the European Union and Canada if they collaborate to cause "economic harm" to the United States.

Trump posted on Truth Social, "If the European Union works with Canada to do economic harm to the USA, large scale tariffs, far greater than currently planned, will be placed on them both to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!" 

The Republican made these statements hours after announcing an increase in customs tariffs up to 25% on "all cars that are not made in the United States," along with their components and assembly parts.

The measure, set to take effect on April 2 as previously announced by the U.S. president, represents a new setback for the automotive sector and countries like Canada and Mexico, its partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The Canadian prime minister has criticized the decision as a "direct attack" on workers and announced plans to convene the Canada-U.S. relations cabinet for a meeting this Thursday.

European auto sector plunges at stock market opening

Automakers and equipment manufacturers saw sharp declines Thursday at the opening of European stock markets, a day after Trump announced 25% tariffs on cars made outside the United States.

On the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, where many companies in the sector are listed, Porsche dropped 4.30%, Mercedes fell 4.31%, BMW declined 4.09%, Daimler decreased 3.18%, and Continental dropped 2.71%. In Paris, Stellantis fell 6.12%, Valeo declined 5.65%, and Forvia dropped 5.42%.