Yesterday afternoon, as soon as the markets have been closed and will now not react instantly, US President Donald Trump introduced that beginning on April 2, all imported cars and plenty of imported automotive components will now be topic to an additional 25 p.c tariff. Regardless of Trump’s rhetoric throughout his election marketing campaign and since taking workplace, tariffs are paid for by these importing the products, not the exporters, so we are able to stay up for most new vehicles and vehicles—and their upkeep prices—getting much more costly.

Throughout his first time period in workplace, Trump started trade wars with key US buying and selling companions like Canada, the European Union, and China. Upon his return in 2025, extra commerce wars have been the secret. A 25 p.c tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico was threatened after which carried out originally of March, earlier than being partially reversed simply two days later. Moreover, a ten p.c tariff on Chinese language exports was additionally levied.

Lower than two weeks later, a brand new 25 p.c tariff on all metal and aluminum imports additionally joined the membership.

Imported vehicles are a nationwide safety risk, apparently

In his executive order asserting this newest upcharge on US shoppers, Trump repeatedly refers to a report from 2019 from his then-commerce secretary, claiming that “cars and sure vehicle components are being imported into america in such portions and underneath such circumstances as to threaten to impair the nationwide safety of america.”

Since that report, the pandemic uncovered vulnerabilities within the world provide chain, and since solely half of the vehicles and vehicles bought within the US are made domestically, which means tariffs are much more justified, the order claims, present free commerce agreements be damned.

“It will proceed to spur development such as you’ve by no means seen earlier than,” Trump stated throughout a press convention.

The car tariff goes into impact on April 2, with the tariff on automotive components—”engines and engine components, transmissions and powertrain components, and electrical parts”—coming no later than Could 3. There’s a partial exemption for autos that conform to the US-Mexico-Canada free commerce settlement, however just for the share of US-made content material (so a truck that had 45 p.c US components underneath USMCA would face a 25 p.c tariff on 55 p.c of its worth).