Life just got a little tougher for American carmakers who build medium- and heavy-duty trucks outside U.S. borders.
President Donald Trump said Monday in a post to his social media site that the U.S. will begin levying 25-percent tariffs on imports of those trucks beginning Nov. 1.
There was no word from the White House whether the policy would carve out exemptions for Mexico and Canada, where U.S. automakers have a sizable manufacturing footprint, or for countries like South Korea and Japan that recently reached trade deals with the United States, according to published media accounts.
Failure to allow exemptions for Mexico and Canada could cost General Motors and Stellantis NV to face significant tariff costs, since both perform final assembly for just under half of their U.S.-sold trucks in Mexico and Canada, according to data from S&P Global, The Detroit News reported.
GM’s Chevrolet brand assembles some but not all of its Silverado HD vehicles at the automaker’s Oshawa Assembly plant in Ontario, Canada. The company also builds some of those models, plus the Sierra HD, at its Flint Truck plant in Michigan.
Stellantis builds all its Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks at the Saltillo Truck Plant in Coahuila, Mexico.
Ford Motor Co., however, assembles 100 percent of its Super Duty trucks at its Kentucky Truck Plant and Ohio Assembly Plant. The company said in a statement it supports the Trump administration in the new tariffs.
“Ford applauds the Trump administration’s action on medium and heavy trucks, which supports our shared goal of growing the American auto industry and U.S. manufacturing. American autoworkers deserve a level playing field,” company spokesperson Robyn Jackson said in the statement.
GM declined to provide a comment, as did the industry’s top lobbying group, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. Stellantis also declined to comment, though the company has previously opposed new levies.
