Tariffs on autos would have a devastating effect on the US economy, driving up the cost of cars for consumers and likely producing a drag on GDP growth. Additionally, the move could hurt thousands of auto industry workers. According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a 25% tariff on imported autos to the US would result in the loss of 195,000 US auto workers' jobs. In an interview with Business Insider Germany last week, Bernhard Mattes, the president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, said tariffs would hurt not only European automakers but the US economy as well. Mattes also said German automakers could not subsist without access to the US market. "No, because the US is both an important export market and a strong production base for us," Mattes said. "We produce more than 800,000 vehicles in North America and employ 116,500 people in 250 factories."