U.S. auto industry could be decimated by tariffs

Posted by Leonflames

9 Comments

  1. >Cars that are made in America aren’t only made in America — they’re made across North America.

    >As a result, Trump’s across-the-board tariffs on all trade with Mexico or Canada risks making U.S. autos much more expensive than foreign imports.
    Why it matters: The U.S. auto industry could shut down within a week, by some estimates, thanks to these tariffs. Even if it doesn’t, there is no automaker that’s set up to operate in a world of high-friction North American border duties.

    >The big picture: With modern supply chains, a single component in a vehicle can cross the U.S. border between six and eight times before final assembly.

    >Trump’s order makes it clear that duty is payable every time any component crosses into the U.S. — there’s no “drawback” allowed that limits the tariff to just the value added abroad.
    Zoom out: What that means is that the 25% tariffs won’t just be payable on full vehicles that have their final assembly in Mexico, like the Chevrolet Equinox or the Ford Maverick.

    >They’re also going to affect nearly all of the components in nearly all cars made in North America, often multiple times over.

    >Aside from the actual tariffs themselves, there’s also no infrastructure in place to even place a precise dollar value on all the components that travel back and forth, let alone fill out customs paperwork on them.

    >The bottom line: If you add up all the tariffs that are going to apply to U.S.-made vehicles, they could easily end up dwarfing total tariffs on finished cars imported from Europe, Japan, or Korea.

    >Far from boosting the U.S. auto industry, these tariffs, if they stay in place for any length of time, could end up decimating it.

  2. LivinAWestLife on

    Good. But you know which company wouldn’t? Tesla. Musk would just love to gobble up market share from Ford and GM.

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