U.S. President Donald Trump holds paperwork he signed during an Ambassador Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 25, 2025.
Win McNamee | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would impose 25% tariffs on “all cars that are not made in the United States.”
Trump said in the Oval Office that there is “absolutely no tariff” for cars that are made in the U.S.
Trump on Monday had hinted that the auto tariffs could arrive prior to April 2, the day his sweeping “reciprocal tariff” plan is set to begin.
“We’ll be announcing that fairly soon over the next few days, probably, and then April 2 comes, that’ll be reciprocal tariffs,” he said at a Cabinet meeting.
Trump has long signaled his plans to impose heavy tariffs on foreign trading partners. But his unpredictable and frequently shifting policy rollouts have stirred turmoil in the stock market and left business leaders uncertain about how to plan for the future.
A truck carrying vehicles prepares to cross into the U.S. from Canada at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, on March 8, 2025.
Geoff Robins | Afp | Getty Images
Trump has hyped April 2 as “liberation day” and “the big one.” His plan, as originally described, would slap reciprocal tariffs on all countries that have their own import duties on U.S. goods, while also imposing tariffs in response to other disfavored trade policies, such as the use of value-added taxes.
But Trump and his officials have recently suggested that the tariffs coming April 2 could end up being softer than they first appeared.
Trump said Friday that “there’ll be flexibility” on those tariffs, and on Tuesday night suggested the duties will be more “lenient than reciprocal.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that countries can pre-negotiate with the U.S. to avoid facing new tariffs on April 2.
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