Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine) (Reuters)-The establishment of customs duties at 25% of the 800,000 European cars imported each year in the United States, of which US President Donald Trump agitated the threat, would have a Structural impact for Europe, said the director general of the French automotive supplier Opto Optomobility on Thursday.

“10%, I’m not going to say that it does not put a tension, but it would not be structurally changing, 25% yes,” said Laurent Favre during a press lunch.

Donald Trump, who has long denounced what he describes as an inequitable treatment of American automobile exports on foreign markets, announced on Tuesday his intention to impose customs duties “of around 25%” on cars.

“The scenarios on which some (European manufacturers) work, and which are not necessarily acted, are probably ‘in reaction to the case”, added Laurent Favre. “What we see today is that some European manufacturers, probably, will reduce their exports, their intercontinental flows.”

“There is an even more important awareness of the need to be very locally established and to avoid as much as possible the flows between the different regions that are not controlled,” he continued.

The ex-Plastic Omnium, world leader in fuel tanks, also produces bumpers, body parts and lighting and provides rooms with half of European cars- models especially of German brands- exported to the States- United.

A decrease in export flows does not worry the director general of the supplier because the group has 13 factories on American soil to take over. Last year, the United States became the first country in Opthobility in terms of turnover.

(Gilles Guillaume report, edited by Augustin Turpin)

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