Shares in foreign and domestic car companies are down since yesterday’s market close after President Donald Trump announced his latest round of tariffs on Wednesday. Those tariffs include a 25% levy on automobiles imported into the United States. However, the tariffs could also affect cars made in America. Here’s what you need to know.
25% tariffs on imported cars and auto parts
Yesterday, Trump announced that he would enforce 25% tariffs on all cars and other automobiles imported into the United States. However, as NBC News notes, while Trump’s original announcement just referred to tariffs on imported vehicles, the tariffs apply to parts of vehicles made in America as well.
A fact sheet about the 25% auto tariffs posted on the White House’s official website states, “The 25% tariff will be applied to imported passenger vehicles (sedans, SUVs, crossovers, minivans, cargo vans) and light trucks, as well as key automobile parts (engines, transmissions, powertrain parts, and electrical components), with processes to expand tariffs on additional parts if necessary.”
The announcement of the tariffs drew condemnation from America’s trading partners and auto-industry players. Jennifer Safavian, CEO of Autos Drive America, a trade group that represents international automakers who operate in the United States, said the tariffs “will make it more expensive to produce and sell cars in the United States, ultimately leading to higher prices, fewer options for consumers, and fewer manufacturing jobs in the U.S.,” as NBC News reported.
How much will car prices rise?
Due to the tariffs, the price of cars in America is expected to rise by thousands of dollars in the next few weeks, reports CNN.
But it won’t just be foreign cars sold in America that will see higher price tags. Because the tariffs also cover imported parts that American car manufacturers need to make their cars in America, those parts will become pricier to obtain, leading to higher domestic car prices as well.
This means it will become costlier for even U.S. car makers to make cars—and some of those costs will need to be passed on to buyers of American-made vehicles.
Automaker stock prices fall
Unsurprisingly, shares in many automakers fell after Trump’s tariff announcement on Wednesday, although some seem to be stabilizing in premarket trading on Thursday.
Here’s a roundup of the current movement in automaker stocks sold on U.S. markets. Prices reflect the time of this writing in premarket trading on Thursday morning.
- General Motors Company (NYSE: GM): down 6.5%
- Tesla, Inc. (Nasdaq TSLA): up 0.71%
- Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F): down 0.4%
- Stellantis N.V. (NYSE: STLA): down .1.7%
- Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM): down 1.74%
- Rivian Automotive, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIVN): down 0.41%
- Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE: HMC): down 1.45%
President Trump said the tariffs will begin being collected on April 3—next Thursday. The president said the tariffs will be “permanent.”
The White House fact sheet detailing the tariffs says that the U.S. auto industry “is vital to national security and has been undermined by excessive imports threatening America’s domestic industrial base and supply chains.” The tariffs, the White House says, are meant to protect it.
No comments