Tag Archives: General Motors

Associated Press: Whitmer told Trump in private that Michigan auto jobs depend on a tariff change of course

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met privately in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump to make a case he did not want to hear: the automotive industry he said he wants to save were being hurt by his tariffs.

The Democrat came with a slide deck to make her points in a visual presentation. Just getting the meeting Tuesday with the Republican president was an achievement for someone viewed as a contender for her party’s White House nomination in 2028.

Whitmer’s strategy for dealing with Trump highlights the conundrum for her and other Democratic leaders as they try to protect the interests of their states while voicing their opposition to his agenda. It’s a dynamic that Whitmer has navigated much differently from many other Democratic governors.

The fact that Whitmer had “an opening to make direct appeals” in private to Trump was unique in this political moment, said Matt Grossman, a Michigan State University politics professor.

It was her third meeting with Trump at the White House since he took office in January. This one, however, was far less public than the time in April when Whitmer was unwittingly part of an impromptu news conference that embarrassed her so much she covered her face with a folder.

On Tuesday, she told the president that the economic damage from the tariffs could be severe in Michigan, a state that helped deliver him the White House in 2024. Whitmer also brought up federal support for recovery efforts after an ice storm and sought to delay changes to Medicaid.

Trump offered no specific commitments, according to people familiar with the private conversation who were not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity to describe it.

Whitmer is hardly the only one sounding the warning of the potentially damaging consequences, including factory job losses, lower profits and coming price increases, of the import taxes that Trump has said will be the economic salvation for American manufacturing.

And the odds that King Donald will actually give due consideration to intelligent advice from a Democrat — not to mention a female Democrat — are … zero?

Whitmer told Trump in private that Michigan auto jobs depend on a tariff change of course
Michigan’s governor met privately with President Donald Trump to urge him to change course on tariffs that are having a big impact on automakers in her state.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-whitmer-michigan-tariffs-auto-industry-c14e8791aa880643bddcdf9ea5372dca

Business Insider: Automakers are starting to reveal how much Trump’s tariffs are costing them

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  • Carmakers are tallying up an eye-watering bill from Trump’s tariffs.
  • Jeep and Ram owner Stellantis said it expected the levies on imported vehicles to cost it around $1.4 billion this year.
  • General Motors, Tesla, and VW have also reported big tariff hits in earnings in the past few weeks.

The auto industry is still trying to unravel a tangled tariff web, and the bill just keeps getting bigger.

Jeep and Ram owner Stellantis became the latest automaker to forecast a heavy hit from Trump’s tariffs on imported vehicles on Tuesday.

The Chrysler maker said that it expected tariffs to cost it around €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) in the second half of this year, after a €300 million impact in the first half of 2025.

Stellantis, which builds Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep models in its factories in Canada and Mexico, has been hit hard by the Trump administration’s 25% tariff on vehicles and car parts imported into the US.

Other automakers are also feeling the pain. General Motors, which builds models for the US market in Korea, Mexico, and Canada, said last week that the tariffs had cut $1.1 billion off its profits in the last quarter.

CEO Mary Barra said that GM was working to reduce its tariff exposure and build up its US manufacturing presence, but the company warned that the worst was still to come. GM estimated that the tariffs could cost it between $4 and $5 billion this year.

Trump’s recent trade deals have slashed the tariffs on importing cars from Japan and Europe to the US from 25% to 15%, but manufacturers still have to deal with a hodgepodge of import restrictions and fees.

The 25% tax on automobile parts means that even carmakers who build their cars in the US face a serious tariff headache.

Tesla, which has factories in California and Texas but still uses some imported components, told investors last week it incurred a tariff-related cost of $300 million in the previous quarter, with CFO Vaibhav Taneja warning that costs are likely to increase in the coming months.

European manufacturer VW also said last week it had suffered a $1.1 billion tariff-related hit in the first half of this year, while Swedish carmaker Volvo took a $1.2 billion impairment charge in part due to the escalating cost of the levies.

Experts and analysts have warned that many of the costs facing automakers will be passed on to US consumers in the form of higher car prices and fewer models.

A study by the Center for Automotive Research published in April found that the 25% tariffs on imported cars and auto parts would hike the cost of vehicles produced in the US by over $4,000 and imported vehicles by nearly $9,000.

Automakers are starting to reveal how much Trump’s tariffs are costing them
Jeep and Ram owner Stellantis became the latest automaker to forecast a heavy hit from Trump’s tariffs on imported vehicles on Tuesday.

https://www.businessinsider.com/automakers-are-revealing-how-much-trumps-tariffs-are-costing-them-2025-7

BBC: Tariffs on car parts entering the US come into force

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A 25% import tax on engines, transmissions and other key car parts has come into force in the US, raising pressure on an industry finding its way through a thicket of policy changes.

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The US president has said the new tariff, along with a 25% import tax on cars that went into effect last month, is intended to push carmakers to do more manufacturing in the US.

But analysts said any immediate expansions in the US were likely to come at the expense of production elsewhere, while also leading to higher costs for the businesses – and ultimately higher prices for customers.

“American made” cars still rely on foreign-made parts — we’re screwed by these tariffs either way.

Tariffs on car parts entering the US come into force

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/tariffs-on-car-parts-entering-the-us-come-into-force/ar-AA1E5k8b

More here:

The White House says tariffs won’t make car buying more expensive. Top automakers don’t sound as sure.
Despite the White House’s statements, Ford’s top executive recently said he could not promise consumers wouldn’t pay more.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/the-white-house-says-tariffs-won-t-make-car-buying-more-expensive-top-automakers-don-t-sound-as-sure/ar-AA1E3BLQ