Merkel ready to back lower EU tariffs on US cars

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday she would back a lowering of EU tariffs on US car imports, responding to an offer from Washington to abandon threats to impose levies on European cars in return for concessions.

Merkel said any such measures would require the European Union to also lower tariffs on cars imported from countries other than the United States, otherwise the plan would not be conform to World Trade Organization rules.

“When we want to negotiate tariffs, on cars for example, we need a common European position and we are still working on it,” Merkel said. “I would be ready to support negotiations on reducing tariffs but we would not be able to do this only with the US”