US President Donald Trump unveiled a 25 percent tariff on imported cars and auto parts, emphasizing that the reciprocal tariff policy, effective April 2, will be "lenient." This date, which Trump referred to as "Liberation Day," is when the new trade measures begin.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump stated, “We’re going to charge countries for doing business in our country and taking our jobs, taking our wealth, taking a lot of things that they’ve been taking over the years.”
He elaborated on the policy, explaining, “What we’re going to be doing is (levy) a 25 percent tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States. If they’re made in the United States, there is absolutely no tariff.”
This tariff will be imposed on all vehicles and trucks manufactured outside the US and then imported, which currently represents about half of all automobile sales in the country.
According to a fact sheet released by the White House, "The 25 percent tariff will be applied to imported passenger cars (sedans, SUVs, crossovers, minivans, cargo vans) and light trucks, as well as significant automobile parts (engines, transmissions, powertrain parts, and electrical components), with procedures in place to add tariffs on other parts as necessary."
A White House official put the new tariffs at approximately $100 billion.
In addition to automobiles, Trump said he was going to impose tariffs on other foreign commodities that are imported, including drugs. Trump pointed out that most medicine found in America is produced in countries like China and Ireland.
Speaking of the two-way tariff system, Trump explained that while the US would be imposing duties on imports from all countries, they might not necessarily be the same as the rates imposed by trading partners on US goods. However, he assured that no country would be exempted.
We're going to get it to all countries, and we're going to make it so easy," Trump declared. "I think everybody's going to be very surprised. It will be, in many cases, less than the tariff that they've been placing on us for a long period of time. So I believe people are going to be very, very surprised.".
He concluded by saying, “We’re going to be very fair, going to be very nice, actually,” before adding, “We have not been treated nicely by other countries, but we’re going to be nice.”
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