As Ford Authority reported back in late November, incoming U.S. President Donald Trump has previously stated that he intends to implement tariffs not only on countries like China, which was slapped with such measures last September by current President Joe Biden – but also, other countries including Canada and Mexico. Such a move could impact automakers in a big way, and that’s particularly true of Ford, which currently builds a variety of vehicles in Mexico, specifically, and then sells those models in the U.S. Now, a new report indicates that the Trump administration still plans to implement these universal tariffs.
According to The Washington Post, the Trump administration still intends to apply tariffs ranging from 10-20 percent on goods brought into the U.S. from other countries, but also plans to only do so in regard to “critical imports.” At the moment, these plans are reportedly still not finalized, but the administration is mulling the idea of only imposing tariffs on specific sectors that it deems “critical to national or economic security.”
At the moment, it’s unclear what industries the administration considers to fall into these categories, but some are believed to be critical medical supplies, materials such as steel and aluminum used in the defense industrial supply chain, and energy production in terms of things like solar panels, batteries, and the raw materials used in the latter. The idea here is that targeted tariffs on certain industries would incentivize companies to make such products in the U.S. moving forward.
These tariffs are one of several actions that Trump reportedly plans to take that could have a big impact on the automotive industry, as Ford Authority has reported in recent weeks. Trump also reportedly plans to eliminate the current clean energy tax credit, roll back efficiency standards, and cancel a contract between USPS and Oshkosh Defense to obtain new delivery vehicles. Meanwhile, Ford – along with a number of other companies – is making a large donation to Trump inauguration’s ceremony, which will take place on January 20th, 2025.
