President Donald Trump to enact 10% global tariffs on Saturday
President Donald Trump declared sweeping tariffs of 10% and more on imports from all countries despite warnings of a global trade war.
- President Trump confirmed the implementation of tariffs on imported cars and light-duty trucks.
- While the administration plans to impose a 25% tariff on imported auto parts by May 3, the impact on the USMCA trade agreement remains unclear.
- Supporters believe the tariffs will revitalize U.S. manufacturing, while critics warn of potential price hikes and sales declines in the auto industry.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterated his promise to impose tariffs on imported cars and light-duty trucks beginning at midnight Thursday and said he would also implement a tariff of at least 10% on other imports from countries that charge the U.S. for access to sell products in those nations.
There remained, however, lingering questions about what those tariffs and those set to go into effect on imported auto parts as well would mean for Detroit automakers that rely on a complex supply chain across North America and whether they were affected and, if so, to what degree.
Speaking at an event in the White House Rose Garden, Trump committed to putting the auto tariffs into place beginning at midnight, saying they and others he will impose in the coming days will “supercharge our industrial base.
“Our country and its taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years but it’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said. He said beyond the auto tariffs, which auto executives and critics say could have a devastating effect on Michigan, he would impose what he called “reciprocal tariffs” on other countries around the world, raising taxes on imports from countries that impose higher tariffs on American imports than the U.S. does on theirs.
Trump called the tariffs “our declaration of economic independence,” arguing they will bring jobs back into the U.S. and help America sell more of its products overseas, while also raising federal revenue.
Trump said his administration had calculated “the combined rate of all their (other countries’) tariffs, nonmonetary barriers and other forms of cheating” charged against U.S. products and would put in place a tax worth approximately half of that on those countries’ imports, though that amount varied depending on the country involved. “They rip us off; it’s so sad to see,” Trump said of the European Union in one example.
He said those “reciprocal tariffs” would begin at a baseline of 10% to start being charged at midnight on Saturday. But he added many countries will pay more than that for imports into the U.S. An eight-page list released by the White House showed tariff rates ranging from a high of 61% on Libya and 50% on products from Lesotho in Africa and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a self-governong French territory on an island near Newfoundland, down to 10% for most trading partners, including the United Kingdom and Brazil.
Those additional tariffs over 10% were set to go into effect in a week on April 9, the White House said in a fact sheet.
The tariff on China was set at 34%, apparently in addition to those already being levied against imports from that country, as well as 26% on India, 24% on Japan and 20% on the European Union.
But the list did not include reciprocal tariff rates for Canada and Mexico, which Trump had initially set at 25% earlier this year, arguing that illegal immigration and the flow of illegal drugs from those nations constituted an emergency and demanded it. He later delayed its implementation. But there had been questions raised when Trump announced those tariffs and tariffs on imported autos about whether barriers to taxes on some or all products covered under the existing North American trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico would be honored or not.
The fact sheet put out by the White House said that the new reciprocal tariffs don’t affect those earlier announced by Trump against Canada and Mexico and that products compliant with the trade agreement between the three nations — known as the USMCA — would not be subject to any additional tariff. But it remained unclear to what extent under the previously announced orders the Trump administration considers finished autos, components and parts crisscrossing the nation’s borders to be “USMCA-compliant” and therefore tariff-free. Items considered noncompliant would face a 25% tariff, the fact sheet said.
Meanwhile, 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, which are also hitting automakers and other manufacturers, also remain in place.
Trump has repeatedly brushed off concerns that a worldwide tariff scheme could potentially touch off a global trade war and suggested higher prices are acceptable in the short term if they lead to more U.S. manufacturing. Economists, however, generally expect other nations to retaliate against U.S. tariffs and agree that, ultimately, tariffs on imported goods are taxes effectively passed on to consumers, raising prices on all affected products.
“I have always said that when used strategically, tariffs are a critical tool to bring back jobs and support American workers and industries,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor. “However, the key word is ‘strategically.’ I’m concerned about the chaotic and immediate implementation of these wide-reaching tariffs. Changes don’t happen overnight, and companies need stability and time to make adjustments. We must bring manufacturing capacity, supply chains, and jobs in critical areas including steel, autos, and pharmaceuticals back to America, and we need to renegotiate USMCA. I will work with anyone to achieve these goals.”
A week ago, Trump signed an executive order ahead of what he had taken to calling this Wednesday’s “liberation day” set of tariffs against other nations, imposing a 25% tax on all cars and light-duty trucks imported into the U.S.
Those auto tariffs — which auto industry officials and analysts said could cripple manufacturers and drive up costs in a widely integrated market — are scheduled to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, though some automakers had hoped there could be a delay or last-minute exemptions put into place. Trump also said last week he would also impose a 25% tariff on imported auto parts no later than May 3 and made no public pronouncement on Thursday that he would back off that.
Hitting Canada and Mexico with additional tariffs — especially on autos and auto parts — could have a devastating effect on North American automakers, especially General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, otherwise known as the Detroit Three, who have a web of supply chains and assembly networks that crisscross the borders with both countries. While UAW President Shawn Fain has supported the tariffs, saying Trump is right that they could reinvigorate U.S. manufacturing jobs, analysts have said they could add thousands to the cost of a new car and result in enormous sales declines in the U.S.
GM and Ford did not immediately issue any statements regarding Trump’s White House remarks on Wednesday. Stellantis issued a statement saying it “continues to assess the effects of the recently announced U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles and will continue to engage with the U.S. administration on these policy changes.”
Glenn Stevens, executive director of MichAuto, an association that works to promote and expand the industry, remarked that while the White House said USMCA-compliant goods remained exempt for now, he remained concerned about “the prospect of a significant rise in the price of vehicles for sale,” saying that would “reduce demand and hurt the automotive industry and its workforce, all of which have an outsized impact on Michigan’s economy.”
There were other signs that some were uneasy with the president’s broad tariff push.
On Wednesday night, the Senate voted 51-48 to pass a resolution that would theoretically terminate the emergency authorization Trump claimed in threatening to impose tariffs on Canada, noting that country’s long-standing alliance with the U.S. and the fact that the Northern border sees comparatively little illegal immigration or drug flow into the U.S. The resolution carried little more than symbolic value since the Republican-led U.S. House had already passed a rule blocking any such joint resolution from being voted on in that chamber. But it did serve to show some Republican opposition to the Canadian tariffs, with four members of the president’s party in support.
Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, both of Kentucky, voted in favor of the resolution, as did all Democrats, including Sens. Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
No such opposition was present at the White House, however, where a retired UAW worker from Macomb County, Brian Pannebecker, was invited to speak briefly, saying he brought several UAW members with him.
“I’ve watched plant after plant after plant in the metro Detroit area close,” said Pannebecker, who has long been a vocal supporter of Trump’s in Michigan. “Donald Trump’s policies are going to bring product back into those underutilized plants. There’s going to be new investment, there’s going to be new plants built,” he said.
Reaction to Trump’s announcement was decidedly mixed. Some Republican members of Michigan’s congressional delegation applauded it, with U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, of Bruce Township, a member of House GOP leadership, saying America has for too long been taken advantage of by its trading partners and that “President Trump made it clear today that we will no longer put American workers at an unfair disadvantage.”
Others, however, were less supportive. U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, said Trump’s tariffs “will raise costs on working-class Michigan families at a time when we can least afford it,” and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, who served as the de facto chief of staff to the Obama administration task force that designed the rescue of GM and what was then Chrysler in 2009-10, said while targeted tariffs can protect American workers and companies, Trump “has made one announcement after another on tariffs,” leaving businesses and workers “grappling” with what they mean.
“Consistency is key for the U.S. auto industry and our world-class workers who rely on these jobs,” Stevens said.
Jennifer Safavian, president and CEO of Autos Drive America, a trade group that includes international automakers doing business in the U.S., including Toyota, Honda, Suburu and others, said Trump’s tariffs “will have a tremendous impact on the entire U.S. auto industry,” noting its members “have spent the last 40 years building the highly-integrated supply chains that power North American auto manufacturing.
“It is impossible to rebuild those supply chains in a matter of weeks, especially with the added financial burden of tariffs,” she said. “While we share the president’s goal of bringing more manufacturing to the United States, we must do so in a way that protects American manufacturing jobs, supports suppliers, provides affordable options for consumers, and allows the industry to remain competitive.”
In Canada, others expressed concern.
“The world is waking up today to a reality that Canada has been living with for months,” said Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “Businesses around the world have had their uncertainty expanded, the effects of which will undoubtedly boomerang to Canada as well. This chain reaction of tariffs and counter-tariffs will have a real and distressing economic impact on Americans, Canadians and the global economy.”
(This story was updated with new information and to correct the spelling of Brian Pannebecker’s name and the territorial status of Saint Pierre and Miquelon.)
Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler. Staff writer Eric Lawrence contributed to this story.
