The European Commission is facing criticism over its recent "tariff deal" with the US. While the agreement aims to provide stability with a 15% tariff for many products, a growing list of machinery and equipment is now vulnerable to much higher tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives.

The VDMA, Germany's engineering industry association, warns that the new tariffs, which can be as high as 50% on the metal content of a product, threaten the existence of many European companies. The US can also unilaterally expand the list of affected products every four months, creating significant uncertainty.

The VDMA has urged the Commission to work towards a solution and ensure machinery and equipment are excluded from future tariffs.