After steel and aluminum, and waiting for construction or copper wood, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, added a new activity sector to his list on Wednesday, announcing 25% of additional customs duties in the automotive sector.
These taxes will be applied to “all cars that are not made in the United States,” said the US president of the White House, added that they will enter into force “on April 2 and we will begin to pick them up in 3”.
“We are going to charge the countries that do business in our country and take our wealth (…) What we are going to do are customs duties of 25% in all cars that are not manufactured in the United States. If they are manufactured in the United States, there will be absolutely no customs task,” said Donald Trump.
Chinese electric cars have already taxed 100%
“This is added to the customs duties already existing in these goods,” said one of his advisors. The rate applied so far was 2.5%. This means that imported cars will now be taxed at 27.5% of their value.
In the case of Chinese electric cars, already 100% taxed since August 2024, this will bring customs to 125%. This is a new blow to the automotive sector, which has already been shaken by previous ads in the matter.
At the beginning of February, the announcement of 25% of customs duties about Canadian and Mexican products caused the sector to tremble, while the production chain of the main American car manufacturers is largely integrated between the three American countries.
Its postponement, until April 2, had constituted relief for the industry, before taxes this time in steel and aluminum, effective since mid -March, come to restore it.
Almost half of steel and aluminum consumed by US industries is imported.
If he had not imposed customs tasks in the car during his first term, Donald Trump had asked the White House representative for Commerce (USTR) to initiate an investigation on the subject, which was completed in 2019.
The White House wishes to tax other sectors
According to Ryan Majerus, a former official of the United States Ministry of Commerce is based on this investigation that President Trump decided to establish this new imported car tax.
“The advantage of the car is that they can go much faster if they wish, compared to other sectors such as the construction of wood or copper, where investigations have just been launched,” Ryan Majerus, now a member of King & Spalding, told AFP.
The White House wants to tax these other two commercial sectors, but that may not intervene before the end of the year.
In all cases, this new tax is part of an extensive use of customs tariffs by US President, while the next step, considered the most important, should take place on April 2.
Source: BFM TV
