Thousands of vehicles sit idle at EU port as Trump’s tariffs leave their mark
European carmakers from Volkswagen to Volvo had been hoping that a deal would have been sealed last week after Trump’s original deadline for a tariff deal with the EU was due to expire.
The Port of Antwerp-Bruges has been turned into a giant car park with thousands of cars, vans, trucks and tractors bound for the US sitting idle as manufacturers try to avert the worst of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Figures released by the port show a 15.9% drop in the transport of new passenger cars and vans to the US in the first six months of 2025 compared with the same period last year, with a sharp decline emerging in May — one month after the US president announced his “liberation day” tariffs.
