It was just a few weeks ago when President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 25 percent on imported automobiles, which raised quite a bit of concern among automakers – for obvious reasons. Ford, for example, has been lobbying for a reduction or elimination in terms of tariffs placed on low-cost parts built in other parts of the world using cheaper labor, which it says would add billions in costs, lead to price increases, lost profits, and layoffs. Now, it seems as if automakers may get some reprieve from tariffs, after all.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, Trump is preparing to exempt automakers from tariffs on imported auto parts that were previously expected to be implemented in just a few days, and they would also not be forced to pay tariffs on aluminum and steel. A coalition of automakers sent a letter to Trump last week urging him to reconsider such a move. “Tariffs on auto parts will scramble the global automotive supply chain and set off a domino effect that will lead to higher auto prices for consumers, lower sales at dealerships and will make servicing and repairing vehicles both more expensive and less predictable,” the letter read.
“President Trump is building an important partnership with both the domestic automakers and our great American workers,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a statement. “This deal is a major victory for the president’s trade policy by rewarding companies who manufacture domestically, while providing runway to manufacturers who have expressed their commitment to invest in America and expand their domestic manufacturing.”
.@Ford CEO @jimfarley98 on the Trump auto tariff changes https://t.co/YzGplYHSez pic.twitter.com/M16S9tIilI
— David Shepardson (@davidshepardson) April 29, 2025
“Ford welcomes and appreciates these decisions by President Trump, which will help mitigate the impact of tariffs on automakers, suppliers and consumers,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement obtained by Reuters. “We will continue to work closely with the administration in support of the president’s vision for a healthy and growing auto industry in America. Ford sees policies that encourage exports and ensure affordable supply chains to promote more domestic growth as essential. As the right policies are put in place, it will be important for the major vehicle importers to match Ford’s commitment to building in America. If every company that sells vehicles in the U.S. matched Ford’s American manufacturing ratio, 4 million more vehicles would be assembled in America each year. The U.S. would see a windfall of new assembly and supplier factories and hundreds of
thousands of new jobs.”
Comments
Flip Flop Trump
remember everything is a business negotiation. not a flip flop. start the most extreme and negotiate to what you were planning on at the end. If you start negotiating with just your final position, you get nothing.
He’s annoying the American population to the point that he has the lowest approval rating on the economy since Nixon and overall in the last 80 years. But he’s such a narcissist, he’ll say he’s the best.
So if there is an American manufacturer of automotive parts, and since the American parts supplier is not a OEM, any materials that are brought in (aluminum, steel) to make their parts do have tariffs. The foreign manufacturers don’t have to pay the tariffs for aluminum or steel in their country.
Say goodbye to American automotive parts manufacturers!
That’s the story for today. Tomorrow, he’ll double the tariffs.
There’s nothing to negotiate here…except stupidity. Most economist have said that the best things thing Trump could have done for the economy when he took office…was nothing, absolutely nothing. It was just fine the way it was. He doesn’t understand how businesses operate, he never has. He doesn’t know what is best for them…they know what is best for them. That is why many large manufacturers have done well for so long, and oh wait for it…he went bankrupt six times!
The emperor has no clothes.
“President Trump is building an important partnership with both the domestic automakers and our great American workers”. That is a double lie! He is NOT building any partnership with any domestic automakers, but damaging sales and profits by increasing production costs. Second he is affecting all Americsn workers, from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. because all three are American nations! He js a coward who ran awsy from his native New York to avoid taxes. And I, as a born New Yorker, am ashamed of having such a schmuck from the same state!