Trump Imposes 25% Tariffs on EU Vehicles; Nebraska Approves Medicaid Work Requirements

President Trump announced late on Friday that he will increase tariffs on cars and lorries imported into the United States from the European Union to 25% from the current 15%, effective next week. He accused the EU of non-compliance with the full agreed-to trade deal.

The announcement came via a post on Truth Social, where Trump stated that many automobile and truck plants are currently under construction with 100 billion dollars being invested, describing it as a record in the history of car and truck manufacturing, and noting that these plants, staffed with American workers, will be opening soon.

Vehicles made in the US by EU companies are exempt from the tariff increase. A. The current 15% tariff level was set under a deal negotiated last July at Trump's Turnberry golf course in Scotland, which reduced tariffs on EU cars to 15% from a proposed 50%.

That agreement marked a reprieve from the 30% tariffs Trump had threatened as part of his Liberation Day tariffs, imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In exchange, the EU agreed to buy $750 billion of energy from the US and make $600 billion in investment in the US, though 50% tariffs on steel continued.

Following heavy lobbying from the EU, German car manufacturers, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump agreed to include cars in the 15% baseline tariff rate.

The tax on cars was imposed under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. Cars from the EU were facing tariffs of 50% on exports to the US before the deal. The European Parliament voted at the end of March to progress the deal, but it has not been formally signed off in the trilogue process involving the European Commission, the European Council, and the parliament.

The European Parliament twice paused the formal process of ratifying the deal, formally suspending it in January in protest at Trump’s threat to take over Greenland from Denmark, and pausing the voting procedure in February following an adverse US Supreme Court ruling.

The 15% tariff deal was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court earlier this year, though the tariffs affecting cars fall under a different legal process and are not impacted by the ruling. Trump's Liberation Day tariffs have been ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, with firms that paid them now seeking refunds.

Talks on the deal have stalled over a dispute about steel and aluminium, with products containing steel and aluminium now subject to average tariffs of 26%. The deal was approved by the European Parliament in March, but only after a clause was added allowing it to be suspended if the Trump administration undermined the deal's objectives, discriminated against EU economic operators, threatened member states' territorial integrity, foreign and defence policies, or engaged in economic coercion.

The European Parliament suspended the approval of the trade deal in January.

The European Commission declared it remained committed to last year’s deal and stated it would keep its options open to protect EU interests. A European Commission spokesperson stated the EU is implementing its joint statement commitments in line with standard legislative practice, keeping the US administration fully informed throughout, and is seeking clarity on US commitments.

The Commission said the EU was adhering to its commitments but was also seeking clarity from the US around its commitments.

Europe agreed to invest in the US and make changes expected to boost US exports in exchange for the deal. Friday was a public holiday in much of Europe. A Trump auto tariff hike could cost Germany nearly $18 billion in output, according to an institute.

President Trump threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy and Spain, a day after saying he was looking at reducing the number deployed in Germany. He told reporters late on Thursday that he would probably consider pulling US troops out of Italy and Spain, stating that Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible.

European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič made a three-day trip to Washington, the first since the July EU-US tariff deal was signed.

Šefčovič met senior figures in Trump’s administration, including commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, US trade representative Jamieson Greer, and treasury secretary Scott Bessent. Separately, Nebraska became the first state to implement Medicaid work requirements on Friday, mandated under President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill that passed last summer.

The bill imposes 80-hour per month work requirements on able-bodied Medicaid recipients aged 19 to 64 who don't have dependents, with approved activities including working, school, and volunteering.

Exemptions apply to parents or guardians of children under age 14 and those with disabilities. 8 million. The megabill will cut Medicaid by more than $900 billion, the largest cut in the program's history.

A report from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities found that 28,000 to 41,000 Nebraskans are at risk of losing coverage by 2034. The bill requires states to conduct eligibility redeterminations at least every six months for all recipients instead of the current 12 months, prohibits states from using their funds to cover undocumented immigrants, and increases required Medicaid paperwork for income and residency verification.

As of early 2026, about two-thirds of non-elderly, non-disabled adult Medicaid enrollees in Nebraska work or attend school, according to KFF.

Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen posted on Facebook on Friday celebrating the new requirements.