Donald Trump slaps 25 per cent tariffs on cars not | Australian Markets

US President Donald Trump has introduced plans for long-promised tariffs of up to 25 per cent on automotive imports, widening the worldwide trade battle he kicked off upon regaining the White House this 12 months in a transfer auto industry consultants count on will drive up costs and stymie manufacturing.

“What we’re going to be doing is a 25 per cent tariff for all cars that are not made in the United States,” Trump stated at an occasion within the Oval Office.

“We start off with a 2.5 per cent base, which is what we’re at, and go to 25 per cent.”

Trump, who sees tariffs as a software to raise income to offset his promised tax cuts and to revive a long-declining US industrial base, stated the new import taxes will go into impact on April 2, the identical date he plans to announce reciprocal tariffs aimed on the international locations accountable for the majority of the US trade deficit. Collection of the new auto tariffs would start on April 3.

Regarding the approaching April 2 announcement, Trump indicated the measures might not be the like-for-like levies he has been pledging to impose.

“We’re going to make it very lenient,” Trump stated.

“I think people will be very surprised. It’ll be, in many cases, less than the tariff they’ve been charging for decades.”

Trump added the duties introduced on Wednesday may very well be a internet impartial and even good for Elon Musk-headed Tesla.

“He has never asked me for a favour,” Trump stated of Musk.

Shares of US-listed automakers fell on news of the press convention on issues that tariffs would ship shock waves by a international auto industry that’s already reeling from uncertainty attributable to Trump’s rapid-fire tariff threats and occasional reversals.

The US stock market additionally closed decrease on worries over tariffs, which have dogged traders for a lot of the final month. The benchmark S&P 500 Index fell 1.1 per cent forward of the press convention, and is down more than 4 per cent thus far in March for its worst month-to-month efficiency in almost a 12 months.

Tariffs may drive prices of cars greater for shoppers by hundreds of {dollars}, hitting new vehicle gross sales and leading to job losses, for the reason that US car industry depends closely on imported elements, in keeping with the Centre for Automotive Research.

Since taking workplace on January 20, Trump has introduced and delayed tariffs on Canada and Mexico for what he alleges is their position in permitting the opioid fentanyl into the US; set import taxes on items from China for a similar cause; launched hefty duties on imports of metal and aluminium; and has repeatedly touted his plans to announce international reciprocal tariffs on April 2.

The US imported $US474 billion ($A751 billion) price of vehicle merchandise in 2024, together with passenger cars price $US220 billion. Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Germany, all close US allies, have been the most important suppliers.

with AP