Trump threatens to place 500% tariffs on cars from Mexico to protect US cars

Donald Trump he wants tariffs, clamoring for them during an interview on Fox News. Already during his first term as president he had introduced very high duties, which is why it is not surprising that he wants to reintroduce them if he wins the elections: “I will introduce duties of 200, 500%, I don’t care as long as they can’t sell a single car here anymore,” he said.

Duties on cars coming from Mexico

The Republican candidate stressed that he does not want foreign companies “they damage our buildings”. Although he does not specify who he is referring to, it seems clear that Trump is thinking above all of Chinese and Asian manufacturers. “We will not allow them to sell cars from a new factory in Mexico, owned by China, thus destroying the remaining companies here. We have a gold market and resources. But if we continue as we have in the last 3-4 years, we will lose everything.”

As early as 2016, Trump threatened to impose high tariffs on cars from Mexico, which is the top export market for U.S. auto parts and ranks as the world’s fourth-largest producer of auto parts, according to International Trade Administration.

In 2019 he had already inserted duties against Mexico, first 5% but then reaching 25%; an introduction that brought serious consequences in the car and components sector, increasing vehicle costs. And again on Trump’s initiative, in 2018 the United States, Mexico and Canada renegotiated thefree trade agreement of North America, introducing provisions that American officials said would ensure a greater share of the highly regionalized automotive manufacturing sector in the United States.

Meanwhile, several Latin American business media reported this year that Mexico’s share of the US auto parts import market increased from 38% in 2017 to 42.5% in 2023, as highlighted by Fox Digital News.

There are already 100% tariffs on Chinese electric cars

But Joe Biden had already thought about stopping the invasion of Chinese cars in the United States in recent months: in May Washington imposed significant increases in tariffs on Chinese importsparticularly on electric vehicles and semiconductors, sparking strong opposition from Beijing. “We will not allow China to flood our market, making it impossible for American automakers to compete fairly,” the US president declared after the announcement of these measures.

The tariff increases affect Chinese imports worth 18 billion dollars and focus on strategic sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries, critical minerals and medical products, the White House said. The tariff rate on electric cars is set to quadruple to 100% this year, while that on semiconductors will rise from 25% to 50% by next year. The goal of these measures is to encourage China to “eliminate its unfair trade practices,” the White House concluded.