US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced plans for long-promised tariffs of up to 25 per cent on vehicle imports, widening the global trade war he kicked off upon regaining the White House this year in a move car industry experts expect will drive up prices and stymie production.
“What we’re going to be doing is a 25 per cent tariff for all cars that are not made in the United States,” Trump said at an event in the Oval Office. “We start off with a 2.5 per cent base, which is what we’re at, and go to 25 per cent.”
Trump, who sees tariffs as a tool to raise revenue to offset his promised tax cuts and to revive a long-declining US industrial base, said the new import taxes will go into effect on April 2, the same date he plans to announce reciprocal tariffs aimed at the countries responsible for the bulk of the US trade deficit. Collection of the new car tariffs would begin on April 3.
Regarding the coming April 2 announcement, Trump indicated the measures may not be the like-for-like levies he has been pledging to impose.
“We’re going to make it very lenient,” Trump said. “I think people will be very surprised. It’ll be, in many cases, less than the tariff they’ve been charging for decades.”
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Trump unveils reciprocal blanket tariffs review of all major US trading partners
Trump unveils reciprocal blanket tariffs review of all major US trading partners
Shares of US-listed carmakers fell on news of the press conference on concerns that tariffs would send shock waves through a global auto industry that is already reeling from uncertainty caused by Trump’s rapid-fire tariff threats and occasional reversals.