Since taking office in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed an additional 10 percent tariff on imported Chinese goods, as well as 25 percent levies on aluminum and steel, and a 25 percent tariff on imported automobiles is current set to take effect on April 2nd, too. On top of these actions, Trump has stated on a few occasions that he plans to roll out reciprocal tariffs in an effort to level the proverbial playing field. Meanwhile, it doesn’t appear likely that automakers will get another 30-day reprieve on these tariffs, either.
According to the New York Times, Trump spoke with a trio of automotive executives earlier this month – Ford CEO Jim Farley, General Motors CEO Mary Barra, and Stellantis Chairman John Elkann – informing them that there won’t be another extension on tariffs set to take place in just a couple of weeks, as was previously the case. Trump informed the execs that “everyone needs to buckle up,” adding that it’s “time for everyone to get on board.”
Previously, Farley was adamantly against tariffs imposed strictly on Mexico, which he said would prove “devastating” and “blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we’ve never seen,” an understandable sentiment given the fact that Ford currently builds a trio of models in that country that are sold in the U.S. Farley later called for more comprehensive tariffs, levies that would be added to all imported autos, a wish that’s seemingly set to be granted very soon. As for Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford, he simply wants Trump’s tariffs to be a bit more predictable, so that automakers can alter their supply chains and production plans in an effort to mitigate their impact on the business.
Trump’s motivation behind these tariffs is to essentially make it economically enticing for automakers to do precisely that – source more materials and parts from the U.S., and build more vehicles there as well. Thus, at the moment, Ford is working on mitigating the impact of those financial levies by stockpiling parts, scrutinizing its supply chain, and analyzing its operations in other countries.
