Brussels – While the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced that he will increase tariffs on cars exported from the European Union, an analysis of trade flow data by the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat, shows a sharp decline since last year: in 2025, car exports from the EU to the US were worth €31.23 billion, a 21.30 per cent decrease compared to 2024.
The United Kingdom tops the list of destinations for EU-made cars: exports to the other side of the Channel grew by 4.4 per cent, reaching a total of 36.57 billion. Following the United States in second place is Turkey, where exports of EU cars reached 15.76 billion: a net increase of 27.9 per cent compared to 2024. Exports to Ankara represent the largest increase in EU car exports (+27.9 per cent), followed by those to Norway, which rose by 27.2 per cent. On the other hand, the decline in trade with the United States comes second only to the far more pronounced drop recorded by the EU-27 in trade with China: it plummeted by 43 per cent to stand at 8.38 billion.
On the import front, in 2025, the EU purchased €7 billion worth of cars from the United States, 16.9 per cent less than in 2024. It is significant that the United States is the second-largest destination market for European car exports, but only the sixth-largest source of car imports for the EU. Instead, China comes first. Imports from the Asian giant grew by 4.3 per cent and, with 13.85 billion, the People’s Republic of China is the leading country from which Europe imports, followed by Japan and Turkey, with respective figures of 11.34 billion and 10.09 billion. Turkey saw a 9.3 per cent increase in 2025 compared to the previous year, while Japan recorded a 9.4 per cent decline. The reduction also affects the United Kingdom, with a 10.70 per cent decrease compared to 2024 and a total of 9.88 billion. Finally, South Korea, from which Europe imports a significant number of cars, totalling 8.74 billion (up 10.3 per cent on the previous year).
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
