Nicknamed the "Detroit of Europe" due to its thriving automotive industry, Slovakia produces more cars per capita than any other country in the world.
Skoda Kodiaq automobiles on the production line at the Volkswagen AG plant in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023.A small landlocked country in the heart of Europe appears to be uniquely exposed to President-elect Donald Trump's "tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. threatens to tarnish the central European country's reputation as a global leader in car production.to impose new tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico in one of his first acts in office.
"Slovakia has turned into a Detroit of Europe," Vladimir Vaňo, chief economist at Globsec, a think tank based in Slovakia's capital of Bratislava, told CNBC via telephone. He added that while there appears to be "very little" Slovakia can do in the short term, the country's automakers have proven to be relatively good at dealing with challenges in the past.
Slovakia, meanwhile, is Europe's joint-third-largest exporter of passenger cars to the U.S., alongside Sweden, with 4 billion euros worth of exports to the U.S. in 2023.