The Commerce Department is holding two days of hearings on whether the U.S. should raise tariffs on vehicles built in Europe and sold in the U.S. The U.S. currently has a $32 billion auto trade deficit with Europe, meaning Americans buy $32 billion more in European cars than U.S. automakers sell back to consumers in the EU. Automakers such as BMW and Mercedes also built vehicles in U.S. factories, especially popular crossovers and SUVs. Reports have recently surfaced that the EU is prepared to lower tariffs on U.S. imports. The Trump administration has threatened to raise tariffs on cars imported from Europe from 2.5 percent to 20 percent. It already has placed tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese imports.