Trump announced his plans today to back off the border shutdown he originally threatened. However, in place of that threat comes an alternative threat to place a 25% tariff on new vehicles from Mexico.
“Mexico understands that we’re going to close the border or I’m going to tariff the cars. I’ll do one or the other. And probably start off with the tariffs,” Trump said. Later, he added: “I don’t think we’ll ever have to close the border because the penalty of tariffs on cars coming into the United States from Mexico, at 25 percent, will be massive.”
-Trump
Why The Trump Tariff Matters
We’ll avoid getting too much into the politics driving this move. However, it is important to note the affect this will have on our own automotive market. There are a number of manufacturers with plants in Mexico, building cars specifically for the US market. Here is a current list of the manufacturers that build in Mexico: Chrysler (Incl. Ram), Ford, GM, Mazda, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen. Plus, BMW and Kia announced plans to open plants in Mexico in the near future.
Not only are there a lot of manufacturers building vehicles for the US market in Mexico. Some of the vehicles produced in Mexico sell here in exceptionally high numbers. The Toyota Tacoma sold around 250,000 units here in the US in 2018. The Honda CR-V, also built in Mexico, sold 379,000 units last year. The point being, this tariff potentially affects millions of vehicles here in the US which could have serious economic impact.
Just a Threat – For Now
Fortunately, the Trump tariff is not set in stone just yet. However, the threat is out there. We will keep an eye on this story as it continues to develop. Stay tuned to TFLcar.com for the latest news, views & real-world reviews.
Speaking of sales, we just published a video covering the slowest selling cars of 2018. Click below to watch now:
