Volvo CEO calls on EU to reduce car tariffs in response to US trade threats

Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson stated on July 17 that the EU should proactively reduce their tariffs on American cars from 10% to 2.5% in order to address the threat from the Trump administration to increase EU car tariffs from 27.5% to 30%. Samuelsson emphasized that the European automotive industry does not need protection, pointing out that the current EU tariff of 10% is much higher than the US rate of 2.5% before Trump took office. As Volvo is one of the European car companies most affected by tariffs, its models sold in the US are mainly imported from Europe. To deal with tariff pressure, Volvo announced that they will start production of the XC60 hybrid model at their factory in South Carolina by the end of 2026. The factory currently only produces the underperforming Polestar 3 and EX90 electric models for the US market, and the company has begun to reduce its product line in the US.