Donald Trump, we just don’t call them that. These new taxes will directly affect car imports to the United States beginning April 2nd. Currently, the tariffs are at 25%. Their stated goal is to protect the domestic automobile industry by stimulating job creation and attracting investment to the United States. The White House laid the groundwork for this major announcement months in advance. As a consequence, the stock market was rattled right away, with General Motors’ stock plunging nearly 3% on Wednesday.
Mexico is now the number one foreign supplier of cars to the US. This provision will hit Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Canada, and Germany the hardest. Trump courageously asserted that these tariffs would kick-start “tremendous growth” for the American car manufacturing industry. He underlined the fact that there would be no tariffs on any cars manufactured inside the United States.
"But if you build your car in the United States there is no tariff," stated Donald Trump, underscoring his administration's focus on promoting domestic manufacturing.
As for Trump, he has signaled that he will not be swayed from this decision. Despite the outcry from virtually every affected industry about the impact this would have, he hasn’t budged. Oops — he thinks this measure is permanent. Its aim is to create the political, regulatory and economic climate for the US car industry, particularly the EV sector.
The announcement follows months of discussions among US lawmakers and trade representatives around trade policies that can bolster democracy abroad and support working Americans at home. Supporters view these tariffs as a positive move to strengthen the US economy. Others are concerned that they threaten to trigger major trade blowback from leading automotive trade partners.