- Mercedes-Benz is considering moving the assembly of at least one more model to its plant in Alabama in response to Trump’s new tariffs for EU products.
- The GLC is the most likely candidate for US production transfer.
The White House enforced its “discounted reciprocal tariffs” on April 3, following US President Donald Trump’s strong-arm economic policies against countries he believes are overly taxing US products in their home markets. Along the way, he slapped European Union (EU) products with 20% tariffs in response to its 39% levies for US goods.
Mercedes-Benz is one of the automakers heavily impacted by the new US tariffs. In response, the company is reportedly considering transferring the production of additional vehicle models to its plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Dr. Joerg Burzer, head of Production, Quality, and Supply Chain Management and Member of the Board at Mercedes, confirmed the matter last Thursday during an event in Stuttgart, Germany. However, he declined to specify which range is US-bound.
Nonetheless, Burzer clarified that they are still assessing the broader impact of the tariffs. He claimed that they had already laid down several measures to deal with the rising cost of duties but also said that it’s necessary to be flexible at this point.
Currently, the Mercedes-Benz GLC is the luxury automaker’s most popular model in the US. However, the company only makes it in Bremen, Germany, and Uusikaupunki, Finland, within the European Economic Area (EEA). Meanwhile, its Asian production is located in Beijing, China, which happens to be a recipient of higher tariffs at 34%.
With that, the GLC is the most likely model that will have its assembly moved to the US. The SUV starts at $49,250 for its 255-hp GLC 300 base model.
