Trump announces 25% tariffs on cars "not made in the United States"

WashingtonDonald Trump announced this Wednesday that the United States will apply "25% tariffs on cars not made in the U.S." "You'll be charged a 25% tariff, but if you make your car domestically, there will be no tariff," said the US president, who defended the measure as a way to boost the country's reindustrialization: "This will continue to drive growth like I didn't see before I was elected. We were losing." Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who also appeared in the Oval Office, confirmed that the vehicle taxes will begin to be applied starting April 3.

The announcement of the new tariff policies on car imports comes the week before the reciprocal tariffs Trump has heralded, which are targeting the European Union, are set to go into effect. Trump has asserted that there is no possibility that he will reverse the vehicle tariffs in the coming days. "It's 100 percent permanent."

The new Republican administration has dubbed April 2nd—the date they are scheduled to take effect—as "liberation day," as it will announce the largest-ever round of tariffs. According to the US president, taxing imports from other countries is the first step in driving US reindustrialization.

As has become customary in Trump's chaotic tariff war, Wednesday's appearance was a last-minute decision announced shortly before by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. The tariff announcement, which threatens to send shockwaves through the US automotive sector, coincides precisely with the national security scandal over the accidentally leaked Signal war chat.

The tariffs on cars are one of the measures that the US president had long stated he wanted to implement. In an appearance from his Mar-a-Lago mansion in February, Trump said he would also tax imported pharmaceuticals and microprocessors. It was then that he said that tariffs on cars would "probably" be 25%.

In early March, after the 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports went into effect, the White House reversed itself and gave the auto industry a month's grace. The Trump administration said it was postponing the implementation of the tariffs on vehicles after the Big Three US automakers requested an exemption: Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. The truce it granted at the time affected all vehicles covered by the USMCA agreement, the revamped version of NAFTA with Mexico and Canada that Trump signed during his first term and which he now appears to want to blow up.

The tariffs could also raise the cost of vehicles for consumers by thousands of dollars, hurting new car sales and leading to job losses, as the U.S. auto industry relies heavily on imported parts, according to the Center for Automotive Research. The United States will import $474 billion worth of auto products in 2024, including $220 billion worth of cars. Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and Germany, all close U.S. allies, were the main suppliers.

Regarding the impact on the Catalan auto sector, neither Seat nor Cupra export vehicles to the United States. Two weeks ago, Seat and Cupra president Wayne Griffiths said the company maintains its goal of going global and that if Cupra enters the U.S. market, it will be by manufacturing vehicles domestically.

In turn, the European Commission has raised its tone against the Donald Trump administration, and European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera warned in a statement that, after carefully analyzing the new US tariffs, she will respond accordingly. However, she is holding out her hand to the White House until the last moment to prevent further escalation of the trade war between the European Union and the US.