Reference News Network July 29 report - According to the Russia Today website on July 28, a study shows that due to U.S. tariffs, the cash flow of major German car manufacturers is expected to decrease by over $10 billion this year. The industry is already facing multiple pressures such as rising production costs and declining sales.
According to the report, the United States is Germany's largest overseas market, but the German automotive industry has become one of the hardest-hit sectors under President Trump's broad-based tariff hikes. In March this year, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on imported foreign cars. After months of negotiations, the EU and the United States reached an agreement on the 27th: set a base tariff of 15% for most export products including cars, but the tariffs on steel and aluminum remained at 50%.
Data from the "Visible Alpha" data analysis platform indicates that Mercedes-Benz's cash flow is expected to drop from $11 billion to about $3 billion this year; Volkswagen's cash flow has been significantly downgraded to $3.8 billion, less than half of last year's $9.5 billion; BMW's cash flow is expected to decline slightly to $5 billion. Volkswagen stated on the 25th that tariffs in the first half of this year have cost it over $1 billion, and said this burden may further increase.
According to the report, suppliers have passed on the increased costs of imported parts and raw materials such as aluminum and steel to automakers, further compressing the profit margins of automakers.
The downturn in the German automotive industry has intensified concerns about the health of the EU's largest manufacturing economy, and the German economy has already entered a recession. (Translated by Tu Qi)
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7532338566316294690/
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