German auto lobby welcomes lower US tariffs but says EU must push further

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s VDA car industry association on Thursday welcomed the United States lowering tariffs retroactively from August 1 but said exporters still faced challenging trade barriers.

“This is an important step,” VDA President Hildegard Mueller said in a statement, after President Donald Trump’s administration said it was formally implementing the U.S. trade agreement with the European Union.

“At the same time, it should be noted that even the U.S. tariffs now in force … remain a tangible challenge for the German automotive industry,” she said, calling on the EU to continue lobbying for better transatlantic trade conditions.

(Reporting by Rachel More, Editing by Friederike Heine)