A day after US President Donald Trump said he would hit foreign cars and car parts with a new import tax of 25%, many of the world’s biggest automakers appeared stunned into silence, as they took in a move expected to wreak havoc across the industry.
Investors sold off shares of carmakers in Japan, Germany and the UK on Thursday, wiping billions of value off names such as Toyota, BMW and Jaguar Land Rover.
Firms in America were some of the hardest hit, with General Motors down more than 7%.
Shares in Tesla, which is known for its US factories and whose boss Elon Musk is one of Trump’s biggest donors and closest advisers, were notably spared from the hit, ending the day flat.
But Musk warned that even his company would not be immune from the tariff disruption.
“Important to note that Tesla is NOT unscathed here,” Musk wrote on social media. “The cost impact is not trivial.”
Tesla’s Model Y, which topped Cars.com’s 2024 index of American-made cars for the third year running, only sources 70% of its parts from the US, according to Patrick Masterson, lead researcher for the list.
“The major takeaway I think people should know about this is no vehicle is 100% US-made,” he said.
“The consumer is going to feel it across the board and I really don’t think that any automaker is going to be spared from this, Tesla included.”
The latest tariffs could affect roughly $300bn-$400bn in imports, depending on what parts are affected by the order, according to Macquarie. That amounts to almost 10% of everything the US brings into the country each year.
It is expected to push up prices by roughly $4,000 to $12,000, depending on the vehicle.
