(Sharecast News) - US President Donald Trump escalated his global trade war overnight, announcing plans to impose swingeing 25% tariffs on all vehicle imports and parts only days before levies on other goods take effect.
The news hit shares in automakers around the world. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said his government would put "all options on the table" in response to the tariffs. The country is the world's second largest exporter of cars. Mexico tops the list, with South Korea, Canada and Germany also major players.
European markets were bracing for heavy falls as investors reacted to the latest threats.
In Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the deal was "bad for businesses, worse for consumers equally in the US and the European Union", while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the move a "direct attack" on his nation.
Trump later threatened further tariffs if the EU teamed up with Canada "in order to do economic harm to the USA".
In a social media post Trump said the duo faced "large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!" - apparently confusing the EU with a sovereign nation.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com