The latest U.S. move may intensify the urgency for the European Union to retaliate. Automotive tariffs could squeeze an industry that is already vulnerable — especially in Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, which sends American consumers cars from companies like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. That makes the tariffs a serious escalation in a trade war that has already left Europe scrambling.

“I deeply regret the U.S. decision to impose tariffs on European automotive exports,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said in a statement on Wednesday.

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