Overview

• Hubert Aiwanger has spent early July in North and South Carolina adopting a conciliatory diplomatic tone to underscore the stakes of US–EU auto tariffs for Bavarian exporters
• He urged the European Union to unilaterally lower its 10 percent duties on American goods in reciprocal response to Washington’s 27.5 percent levy on German car imports
• During a visit to BMW’s Spartanburg factory—where some 1,500 X-series vehicles roll off the line each day—Aiwanger ceremonially hammered in an emblem to highlight the plant’s reliance on frictionless transatlantic trade
• The outreach represents a strategic pivot from his usual combative style following his failed bid for Bundestag direct mandates earlier in 2025
• Back in Munich, Aiwanger’s Freie Wähler continues to clash with CSU coalition partners over federal legislation, reflecting ongoing domestic pressures on the minister