Well, they’re here. A month after Trump paused planned tariffs against Canada and Mexico, the White House announced that it would move forward with the duties, starting what could become a brutal North American trade war.
The tariffs add 25 percent to all imports from Canada and Mexico except Canadian energy, which sees a 10 percent tax. Trump also announced another 10 percent increase on Chinese goods, following the initial 10 percent he enacted a month ago. The tariffs took effect last night at 12:01 a.m., so anything crossing either border today will be subject to the duties.
Both Canada and Mexico have retaliatory measures ready, with our neighbor to the north imposing 25 percent tariffs on billions of American goods and threatening to cut off the cheap energy flow to American households and businesses. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced another round of tariffs to start in 21 days, which will cover $125 billion in additional goods.
President Trump believes that the tariffs will force automakers to bring more production into the U.S., but that could take years. All three Detroit car companies have significant manufacturing operations north and south of the border and vehicles often cross the international lines more than once, which could add thousands to the cost of new cars.
Experts estimate increases of between $4,000 and $10,000 as automakers start to realize the additional costs involved with production and logistics. The action will impact a wide range of vehicles, including the Ford Bronco Sport, Honda Civic, Lexus RX, and others, so it will be interesting (and stressful) to watch how the situation progresses in 2025 and beyond.
[Images: Honda, Ford]
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