Donald Trump's pledge to slap tariffs on imports to the U.S. from Mexico could be more damaging for European car makers like Volkswagen and Stellantis and their suppliers than any direct tariffs on EU goods,

Europe’s worst-case scenario for the future of transatlantic economic relations rose to the surface this week when President-elect Donald Trump gave a clear signal that he’ll use American trade might as a means to exert foreign policy leverage.

The popular wisdom had become that he wasn’t really that serious, and the key bit of evidence for that was his nomination of hedge fund investor Scott Bessent as his Treasury Secretary, someone seen as a moderate when it came to tariffs compared with others whose names were floated for the role.