Mercedes-Benz’s chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm said that if the tariffs remained in place for the full year, they would reduce the company’s profit margin in its car division, which slipped to 7.3 per cent in the first quarter, by 3 percentage points.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign an executive order easing the impact of his auto tariffs, preventing duties on foreign-made vehicles from stacking on top of other levies and lessening charges on parts from overseas used to make vehicles in the US.