Volkswagen on Tuesday warned against the "harmful economic impact" of tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump is proposing on imports from Mexico, where Europe's top carmaker operates a major factory.

Hawkish voices in his White House—notably, Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy—are pushing for the universal tariffs that Mr Trump promised on the campaign trail. By using his presidential memo to call for an “America first” trade policy without specifying its actual content,