Detroit auto industry spared from Trump’s latest tariff programme

[DETROIT] Detroit’s automakers learned Friday (Feb 20) night that they had been spared from tariffs that US President Donald Trump imposed after the US Supreme Court struck down most of his global duties. 

Trump on Friday night put in place a flat 10 per cent levy on foreign goods that is to take effect on Tuesday. But in a fact sheet, the White House affirmed that passenger vehicles and certain trucks and auto parts would not be subject to the duty.

The American Automotive Policy Council, which represents General Motors, Ford Motor and Jeep-maker Stellantis, had sent a letter to Trump’s trade team earlier Friday seeking to preserve a framework that protects them from paying multiple import taxes on vehicles and parts, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing the private communication.

Automakers are facing billions of dollars in additional costs from Trump’s tariffs, particularly those levied on imported autos and car parts. 

Those tariffs, as well as levies targeting steel and aluminum, were implemented under a law that gives the president authority to impose import taxes on national security grounds. The duties were unaffected by the Supreme Court’s ruling that struck down Trump’s broader import taxes imposed on many countries.

The president signed a pair of directives last April that eased the impact of his tariffs on the automotive industry, in part by preventing multiple levies from piling on top of each other. BLOOMBERG