Washington
\nUS President Donald Trump has announced steep tariffs on auto imports and parts, provoking threats of retaliation from trading partners ahead of further promised trade levies next week.
\nWall Street slumped ahead of Trump\u2019s Wednesday afternoon announcement, while the world\u2019s top-selling automaker Toyota plunged more than three per cent.
\nJapan\u2019s government described the announcement as \u201cextremely regrettable,\u201d while Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tokyo was \u201cconsidering all kinds of countermeasures.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat we\u2019re going to be doing is a 25pc tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States,\u201d Trump said, as he signed the order in the Oval Office.
\nThe duties take effect at 12:01am (09:01am PKT) on April 3 and impact foreign-made cars and light trucks. Key automobile parts will also be hit within the month.
\nCanadian Prime Minister Mark Carney branded Trump\u2019s tariffs a \u201cdirect attack\u201d on his country\u2019s workers and said the cabinet would meet on Thursday to discuss retaliation.
\nBrazil\u2019s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said his country \u201ccannot stand still\u201d in response to the levies.
\nThe move even appeared to raise eyebrows from Trump ally and Tesla boss Elon Musk, who said the cost impact of the tariffs on his firm\u2019s cars was \u201cnot trivial\u201d.
\n\u201cTo be clear, this will affect the price of parts in Tesla cars that come from other countries. The cost impact is not trivial,\u201d he posted on X.
\nPeter Navarro, Trump\u2019s senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing, in a briefing after Trump\u2019s announcement blasted \u201cforeign trade cheaters\u201d who he said turned America\u2019s manufacturing sector into a \u201clower wage assembly operation for foreign parts\u201d.
\nHe took aim at Germany and Japan for reserving the construction of higher-value parts to their countries.
\nSince beginning his second term in January, Trump has imposed fresh tariffs on imports from major US trading partners Canada, Mexico and China \u2014 alongside a 25pc duty on steel and aluminium.
\nThe latest levies will be in addition to those already in place for products. But the White House added that vehicles entering under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) can qualify for a lower rate depending on their American content.
\nSimilarly, USMCA-compliant auto parts will remain tariff-free as officials establish a process to target their non-US content.
\n\u2018Devastating impact\u2019
\nUncertainty over Trump\u2019s trade plans and worries they could trigger a downturn have roiled financial markets, with consumer confidence also falling in recent months.
\nWall Street slumped ahead of Trump\u2019s announcement, with shares in General Motors and Stellantis each down more than three per cent.
\nOn Thursday in Japan, the world\u2019s top-selling automaker Toyota shed more than three per cent. Among other carmakers, Nissan lost 2.5pc, Honda shed 3.1pc and Mitsubishi Motors gave up 4.5pc, while Mazda and Subaru both gave up around 6pc. South Korea\u2019s Hyundai retreated 2.7pc in Seoul.
\nTrump has defended the levies as a way to raise government revenue and revitalise American industry.
\nBut targeting imported cars could strain ties with close partners such as Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico and Germany.
\n\u201cImposing 25pc tariffs on imported cars will have a devastating impact on many of our close trading partners,\u201d said Wendy Cutler, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former US trade negotiator.
\nShe added that Washington has free-trade agreements with some affected parties, \u201ccalling into question the value of US commitments\u201d under a trade deal.
\nAbout 50pc of cars sold in the United States are manufactured within the country. Among imports, about half come from Mexico and Canada, with Japan, South Korea and Germany also being major suppliers.
\nAnd of the US-made cars, more than half were assembled from foreign parts, said a White House official.
\nThe American Automotive Policy Council representing Detroit\u2019s \u201cBig Three\u201d automakers \u2014 Ford, General Motors and Stellantis \u2014 issued a carefully worded statement on the tariffs, saying it hoped the policy would boost US auto production.
\nBut it stressed: \u201cIt is critical that tariffs are implemented in a way that avoids raising prices for consumers.\u201d
\nThe Centre for Automotive Research has previously estimated that US tariffs \u2014 including those on metals and imported autos \u2014 could increase the price of a car by thousands of dollars and weigh on the jobs market.
\n\u2018Liberation Day\u2019
\nBesides the automobile industry, Trump is also eyeing sector-specific tariffs, such as on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber.
\nWednesday\u2019s announcement comes ahead of Trump\u2019s so-called \u201cLiberation Day\u201d for the world\u2019s biggest economy on April 2.
\nHe has promised reciprocal levies, tailored to different trading partners to remedy practices Washington deemed unfair. On Wednesday, he said these duties will impact all countries.
\nWhile Trump has invoked emergency economic powers for some recent tariffs, his auto levies build on a government investigation completed in 2019. The probe found that excessive imports were weakening the internal economy and might impair national security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington US President Donald Trump has announced steep tariffs on auto imports and parts, provoking threats of retaliation from trading partners ahead of further promised trade levies next week. Wall Street slumped ahead of Trump\u2019s Wednesday afternoon announcement, while the world\u2019s top-selling automaker Toyota plunged more than three per cent. Japan\u2019s government described the announcement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-469588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n