President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on autos not made in America.
Trump: “What we’re going to be doing is a 25% tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States… business is coming back to the United States so that they don’t have to pay tariffs… This will continue to spur growth like you haven’t seen before.”
White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf said the administration expects “these tariffs will result in over $100 billion of new annual revenue to the United States of America.”
Trump originally planned 2.5% tariffs. The tariffs will go into effect on April 2. From Fox Business:
The president said he will impose a 25% tariff on all imported autos, up from 2.5% previously. He indicated the auto tariffs will take effect on April 2, when his reciprocal tariff plans are also expected to be announced.Trump, who views tariffs as a way to bring in tax revenue to finance his plans for tax cuts while spurring a revitalization of domestic manufacturing, previously suggested that he could impose auto tariffs that run “in the neighborhood of 25%.”In his Oval Office remarks, Trump said the tariffs “will lead to the construction of a lot of plants, in this case auto plants, and you’re going to see numbers that you haven’t seen both in terms of employment. It take a little while, you’ll have great construction numbers initially, and then ultimately you’re going to have a lot of people making a lot of cars.”
Here is a thread from the administration’s Rapid Response account:
NEW: @POTUS just signed an order imposing 25% tariffs on imports of automobiles and certain auto parts to end unfair trade practices and protect U.S. national security.AMERICA FIRST!THREAD:For too long, America’s automobile industry has been battered by a flood of cheap imports — threatening our domestic industrial base and exposing us to global supply chain vulnerabilities.Enough is enough.Using his authority under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, President Trump is adjusting imports to protect our national security.A 25% tariff will be imposed on the following imports:Passenger vehicles, including sedans, SUVs, crossovers, minivans, cargo vans, and light trucksKey automobile parts, such as engines, transmissions, powertrain parts, and electrical componentsForeign automobile industries, propped up by unfair subsidies and aggressive industrial policies, have expanded. Meanwhile, U.S. production has stagnated. We’re reversing that trend NOW.In 1985, U.S. owned and operated plants built 11 million automobiles—97% of overall domestic production.In 2024, Americans bought approximately 16 million vehicles, but HALF were imports. Of the other eight million vehicles assembled in America and NOT imported, only 40-50% were American made.Therefore, of the 16 million cars bought by Americans, only 25% of the vehicle content could be categorized as Made in America.Our trade deficit in automobile parts hit a staggering $93.5 BILLION in 2024.The U.S. auto industry employs approximately ONE MILLION Americans.Auto parts manufacturing jobs total approximately 553,300. But we’ve lost 286,000 auto parts manufacturing jobs since 2000 – down 34%.In 2023, U.S.-owned automakers accounted for just 16% of global R&D spending, while the EU dominated with 53%.These tariffs will fuel American ingenuity and bring our edge back.
Many auto companies have expressed or already announced manufacturing in America.
Trump claimed those who already have factories here like the tariffs: “If they have factories here, they are thrilled. If they don’t have factories here, they’re going to have to get going and build them because otherwise they have to pay tariffs. It’s very people. And most of them have pretty big factories here.”
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