By DAVID McHUGH and GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European automakers, already struggling with tepid economic growth at home and rising competition from China, on Thursday decried the U.S. import tax on cars as a heavy burden that will punish consumers and companies alike on both sides of the Atlantic.

The new 25% import tax announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday “will hurt global automakers and US manufacturing at the same time,” the European Automobile Manufacturers’ association said in a statement.

The head of Germany’s auto industry association, VDA, said the tariffs would weigh on car makers and every company in the deeply interwoven global supply chain “with negative consequences above all for consumers, including in North America.”

“The consequences will cost growth and prosperity on all sides,” Hildegard Müller said in a statement.

The stakes are enormous for BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Stellantis and their vast network of suppliers, as well as the entire European economy.

The U.S. is the biggest export destination for the European auto industry and in 2023, European automakers exported 56 billion euros worth of vehicles and parts to the U.S.. Europe’s auto industry supports 13.8 million jobs, or 6.1% of total EU employment.

Europe’s carmakers already face a shrunken domestic market and new competition from cheaper Chinese electric vehicles. Any trouble in the auto industry would weigh on European economy that did not grow at all in the last quarter of 2024 and just 0.9% for the entire year.

The most exposed are German and Italian carmakers since 24% of German and 30% of Italian non-EU exports go to the U.S.. Germany is home to major automakers such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

Opel cars are parked on the ground of the Opel car factory in Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

“This would deliver a substantial blow to a sector that not only sustains millions of jobs but also contributes to a large proportion of the bloc’s GDP,” wrote analyst Clarissa Hahn at Oxford Economics. She estimated a decline in German exports of 7.1% and a fall of 6.6% for Italian ones.

U.S. carmakers are less exposed to possible retaliation because they export only 2% of their production to the EU. Still, shares of Detroit’s Ford and General Motors tumbled sharply before the opening bell in the U.S. Thursday because the U.S. industry relies heavily on cross-board trade by suppliers.

“The EU and the US must engage in dialogue to find an immediate resolution to avert tariffs and the damaging consequences of a trade war,” the European manufacturers’ association said.

German auto association head Müller called for immediate negotiations between the EU and U.S. on a bilateral agreement that would offer “a forum to discuss the various tariff and non-tariff barriers for automobile products and could lead to a more balanced approach.”

Moulson contributed from Berlin

By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. cities most vulnerable to a trade war with Canada turn out to largely be in the states that helped return Donald Trump to the White House — a sign of the possible political risk he’s taking with his tariff plans.

Related Articles

Trump places 25% tariff on imported autos, expecting to raise $100 billion in tax revenues

Turkish student at Tufts University detained, video shows masked people handcuffing her

Congressional Republicans target PBS, NPR funding in contentious hearing

Other voices: Democrats’ filibuster flip-flop

Lisa Jarvis: What we’re getting right fighting the overdose epidemic

A new analysis released Thursday by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce detailed the areas most dependent on exports to Canada, with San Antonio and Detroit topping the list of 41 U.S. metro areas. The findings show that the United States’ 25% tariffs on Canada and Canada’s retaliations could inflict meaningful damage in key states for U.S. politics.

The analysis was conducted before the Republican president announced Wednesday that he was placing additional 25% tariffs on imported autos and parts starting on April 3.

“The consequences of today’s escalation in this destructive tariff war will not be contained to Canada, as much as the U.S. administration would like to pretend,” said Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “Throwing away tens of thousands of jobs on both sides of the border will mean giving up North America’s auto leadership role, instead encouraging companies to build and hire anywhere else but here. This tax hike puts plants and workers at risk for generations, if not forever.”

Nearly half of what San Antonio exports, with its aerospace, auto and energy sectors, goes to Canada. About 40% of what the auto-driven Detroit area exports also goes to Canada. Trump’s wins in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were crucial for his overall victory in November’s presidential election — and Milwaukee and Pittsburgh also rank in the top 10 for exposure to a trade war with Canada.

Other cities most dependent on exports to Canada include Kansas City, Missouri; Louisville, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; Columbus, Ohio; Chicago; and Cleveland. All of those states aside from Illinois backed Trump in the last election.

Canadian Bourbon sits on a shelf at a store in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Trump has placed 25% tariffs on many goods from Mexico and Canada, with a lower 10% tax on energy products from Canada. Some of those tariffs have been suspended or delayed, though they’re set to fully hit in April.

Canadian leaders have warned that the United States would suffer in the form of higher prices, fewer jobs and slower growth because of the trade war. But an analysis by the Brookings Institution found that the economic pain would be more severe in Mexico and Canada because those countries are more reliant on the United States in terms of trade.

Trump’s stated reason for the tariffs is to stop illegal immigration and drug smuggling, though he’s also said that he dislikes the trade deficit with both countries and has taunted Canada by suggesting that it could become the 51st U.S. state.

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Major anti-abortion groups were gathering in the nation’s capital on Thursday to begin a lobbying effort with Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration aimed at eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood ahead of the Supreme Court hearing a case in April that could strip the organization’s funding in South Carolina.

The anti-abortion groups are taking aim at abortion providers under an initiative called Defund Planned Parenthood, which targets federal Medicaid funding for the reproductive health care provider.

“This event begins an intensive round of outreach to the GOP, calling on them to take advantage of this unique moment to defund the abortion industry,” Students for Life, the national anti-abortion group organizing the event, said in a statement.

The Hyde Amendment already restricts government funding for most abortions, and less than 5% of the services Planned Parenthood provides are abortions, according to the organization’s 2023 report. Planned Parenthood also provides other forms of reproductive health care, including contraception, treatment for sexually transmitted infections and cancer screenings, often for low-income patients.

Vicki Ringer, Planned Parenthood’s South Carolina director of public affairs, said claims that Planned Parenthood uses Medicaid funding for abortion is “an attempt to mislead the public” and emphasized Planned Parenthood’s role in providing broader reproductive health care.

“We should be expanding health care to low-income people rather than trying to kick off these people who rely on us for health care,” Ringer said.

Rachel Rebouche, dean of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia, said the Defund Planned Parenthood movement has been building for 10 years but has gained momentum as the anti-abortion movement has been emboldened by Trump’s presidential victory and by his fellow Republicans winning control of Congress in November.

“We’re seeing more enthusiasm in states like South Carolina and others to close down Planned Parenthood under the banner of stopping abortions, which their laws already do,” she said.

The Supreme Court announced it would hear a case involving South Carolina’s attempt to strip Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. Experts say the lawsuit could prompt similar efforts in conservative states across the country to chip away at the organization’s funding.

Almost 100 conservative members of Congress signed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to side with South Carolina. The state already bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, before many people know they’re pregnant.

In February, a panel of judges in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that attempted to force Planned Parenthood to repay millions of dollars of Medicaid funding in Texas and Louisiana.

If the Supreme Court sides with South Carolina, Rebouche said, there may be a wider impact on health care by “giving states broad power to exclude health care that is unpopular or politically disfavored,” such as contraception. Targeting Planned Parenthood might also have a negative effect on maternal and infant mortality rates and could cost more money in the long run by cutting off low-income patients from vital preventive reproductive health care, she said.

During a 2015 push to strip Planned Parenthood funding, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that doing so would cost the government $130 million over 10 years.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in at least three states — Missouri, Ohio and South Carolina — have introduced bills this year aiming to create tax breaks for anti-abortion centers.

The strategies come during a time when abortion rights advocates are warning that Trump and his Cabinet hold significant power to restrict medication abortion access nationwide.

Rather than immediately heeding calls from anti-abortion allies to restrict Medicaid funding for clinics that provide abortions, Trump has made quieter moves after waffling on the issue on the campaign trail.

Trump reinstated a policy that requires foreign nongovernmental agencies to certify that they don’t provide or promote abortion if they receive U.S. aid for family planning assistance. He also pardoned several anti-abortion activists convicted of blockading abortion clinics and used wording related to fetal personhood in an executive order rolling back protections for transgender people.

The Republican president has appointed abortion opponents in some key Cabinet positions that could affect the availability of medication abortion and contraception, Medicaid coverage for family planning services, collection of abortion-related data and abortion access for troops and veterans.

Advocates on either side of the abortion debate are waiting to see if Trump’s Department of Justice will revive the Comstock Act, a 19th-century obscenity law, to restrict the mailing of medication abortion or other materials used for abortions. Attorney General Pam Bondi has a history of defending abortion restrictions, and her confirmation was celebrated by abortion opponents.

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

CAIRO (AP) — Six people died and nine others were injured after a tourist submarine sank in the popular Egyptian Red Sea destination of Hurghada, two municipal officials said Thursday. They were speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Emergency crews were able to rescue 29 people, according to a statement released by the Red Sea governorate. The submarine, which was sailing off one of the beaches in the tourist promenade area, had carried 45 tourists of various nationalities.

It was not immediately clear what caused the submarine to sink.

In November, a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea after warnings of rough waters, Egyptian officials said. At least four people drowned, while 33 were rescued.

Tourism is an important sector of Egypt’s economy but many tourist companies have stopped or limited traveling on the Red Sea due to the dangers from conflicts in the region.