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Continental warns of fresh U.S. tariff blow if latest increase affects tyres

By Thomson Reuters May 6, 2026 | 3:03 AM

May 6 (Reuters) – Continental expects a blow in the “mid to high double-digit million euro” range ​should higher U.S. import ‌tariffs recently announced by President Donald Trump apply to tyres, its finance chief said on Wednesday.

Car parts makers ‌in ​Europe are facing renewed ⁠pressure as Trump ⁠last week announced a tariff increase on cars and trucks from the European Union to ​25% from the previously agreed 15%, saying the bloc had ⁠not complied with ⁠its trade deal with ​Washington.

Continental finance chief Roland Welzbacher told ​Reuters that the new tariffs were ‌not included in the company’s forecasts and that the firm was still waiting for details ⁠before taking further actions.

He said the expected additional burden “would require again to think ⁠about ‌measures to offset this ⁠cost like we did ​last ‌year. So we need to ​focus on ⁠cost savings, and obviously we also need to think about commercial measures”.

(Reporting by Emanuele Berro and Simon Ferdinand Eibach, editing by ​Christoph Steitz)