BERLIN (AP) — Germany's vice chancellor, responding to an interview with President-elect Donald Trump, has rejected threats by Trump to put tariffs of up to 35 percent on German automakers if they set up plants in Mexico instead of the U.S. and try to export cars to the U.S. from there.

Germany's economy minister, Sigmar Gabriel, at a press conference after the Franco-German Financial Council meeting in Berlin. Thomson Reuters BERLIN — Germany's vice chancellor, responding to an interview with President-elect Donald Trump, has rejected threats by Trump to put tariffs of up to 35% on German automakers if they set up plants in Mexico instead of the US and try to export cars to the US from there.

Sigmar Gabriel, who is also Germany's economy minister, was quoted Monday by the daily Bild as saying such tariffs would make "the American auto industry worse, weaker, and more expensive."

Trump had also claimed German automakers don't behave fairly because a lot of German cars are seen in the US but few American cars in Germany.

Gabriel responded that "the US needs to build better cars."

Beyond that, Gabriel suggested more self-confidence in dealing with Trump. He said: "We're not weak and inferior."