Toyota Says Steel Import Tariffs Will Make US Cars More Expensive
Toyota has told American car buyers to brace for higher prices in the near future, in the wake of President Trump’s decision to slap large tariffs on imported steel and aluminium.
Despite saying that it uses around 90 per cent US-made steel and aluminium in the cars it makes in that country, Toyota says the new 25 per cent tariff on foreign steel (10 per cent on imported aluminium) will ‘substantially raise production costs’. That means future customers’ wallets will inevitably take a beating.
Suppliers of metal components will also have to put their prices up, especially where contracts are already in place to source steel from outside the US. Those costs will find their way into the headline price of car makers’ new models.
Steel import tariffs have been tried by the US before. The taxes imposed in 2002 were eventually judged to have cost the US economy around 200,000 jobs, and a study concluded that the domestic impacts outweighed any benefits. The tariffs were eventually lifted when the EU responded with similar tariffs punishing key US industries.
Comments
So you increase the cost of making cars in the US and then you increase the cost of car made out side of the US so what’s the point?
Note: you wouldn’t have to enforce arbitary import tariffs if you were making internationally competitive products.
I could not agree more
Ugh. instead of america actually competing by making better products with our more skilled workforce we decide “nah” and just use force to get people to buy our products. JUST. MAKE. BETTER. CARS.
[DELETED]
And the award for the biggest grill on earth goes to:
insert dramatic drumming
Toyota!
This will just hurt everyone. When it was done in 2002 to try to swing steel-producing Pennsylvania votes, what it did most was hurt states and industries that use steel, which really put Michigan into the craphole that everyone else fell into in 2008-2009. This will hurt both foreign and domestic companies that produce just about anything in the United States. Foreign steel is a necessity if American-made steel is inferior or more expensive. Instead of slapping tariffs on goods, let the market decide what is best. If domestic steel companies want more business, then they need to improve their quality or efficiency.
This is what happens when you put patriotism over common sense
YOU DONT SAY..