Trump slams 25% tariffs on automobile imports

United States President Donald Trump has announced steep tariffs on auto imports in the U.S.

Trump announced this on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in a move set to fuel tensions with trading partners ahead of further promised levies next week.

“What we’re going to be doing is a 25 per cent tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States. If they’re made in the United States, it is absolutely no tariff,” he said at the White House.

The move takes effect at 12:01 a.m. eastern time on April 3 and impacts foreign-made cars and light trucks. Key automobile parts will also be hit within the month.

Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, Peter Navarro, later in a briefing blasted “foreign trade cheaters” who he said turned America’s once-bustling manufacturing sector into a “lower wage assembly operation for foreign parts”.

“That threatens our national security because it’s eroded our defense and manufacturing industrial base,” Navarro said.

He took aim at Germany and Japan for reserving the construction of higher-value parts to their countries.

Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has imposed fresh tariffs on imports from major United States trading partners Canada, Mexico, and China – alongside a 25 per cent duty on steel and aluminum.

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But the White House added that vehicles entering under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) can qualify for a lower rate depending on their American content.

Similarly, USMCA-compliant auto parts will remain tariff-free as officials establish a process to target their non-U.S. content, AFP reported.

Uncertainty over Trump’s trade plans and worries they could trigger a downturn have roiled financial markets, with consumer confidence also falling in recent months amid fears of the tariffs’ effects.

Wall Street slumped ahead of Trump’s announcement, with shares in General Motors down 3.1 per cent although Ford eked out a 0.1 per cent gain.

Trump’s administration has referred to levies as a way to raise government revenue, revitalize American industry and press countries on U.S.priorities.

But targeting imported cars could strain ties with countries like Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, and Germany – which are close U.S. partners.

While 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.

Since then, a White House official said, national security concerns have “remained and may have escalated”.

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Segun Ojo

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