With Car Tariffs, Trump Puts His Unorthodox Trade Theory to the Test
With sweeping auto levies, the president is putting his beliefs about tariffs into practice on the global economy. Economists aren’t optimistic.
It Is Happening Every Day, Every Where
With sweeping auto levies, the president is putting his beliefs about tariffs into practice on the global economy. Economists aren’t optimistic.
The scale of the damage depends on the circumstances of each company’s supply chain.
President Trump’s approach to tariffs has unsettled many corporate leaders who believed he would use the levies as a negotiating tool. As it turns out, he sees them as an end in themselves.
The S&P 500 jumped about 1.2 percent on Wednesday, after two days of declines. Shares of automakers rallied.
General Motors, the largest producer of cars in Mexico, won’t provide details on how it would react if President Trump imposes 25 percent tariffs from the two countries.
North American car companies have operated across borders for three decades. Tariffs would raise prices and cost jobs in the short run, analysts say.
Automakers and even some Republicans may fight to preserve funds, and environmental activists will likely sue, but some experts said that some changes may not survive legal challenges.
More car buyers are expected to eventually pick battery-powered cars and trucks as prices fall and technology improves, even if Biden-era incentives disappear.