American carmakers may face new tariffs in April. President Trump’s latest move means the firms could pay more for imported parts. Trump says tariffs will rev up the U.S. economy. But will they? CGTN’s Michael Marillier looks at the data.
00:00So, what could the Trump tariffs mean for America's auto sector? Well, aluminum is a key metal in the industry, but the U.S. imports nearly half of all its supplies, so it has to rely on other countries.
00:13President Trump says tariffs will boost local production, and he may have a point. This is America's aluminum production during his first term.
00:22In 2017, just over 740,000 tons. But in 2018, he imposed a 10 percent tariff, and the following year, we're looking at a million tons.
00:35So, tariffs could help American businesses, but they could also damage them. Tesla made headlines last week after writing to the White House.
00:44The carmaker said other countries may hit back with tariffs of their own. That would make Teslas more expensive when they're sold overseas.
00:53Several other carmakers have also been in the news. Ford, GM and Stellantis said their costs would climb if they had to pay tariffs on components from Mexico and Canada.
01:04Trump agreed to put them on hold, but only for a month.
01:09There's another issue. Modern supply chains are complicated. A single part, in this case a piston, will cross the U.S. border six times before the car is sold.
01:19That's according to data from the Wall Street Journal. So if these measures go ahead, a U.S. carmaker would pay three tariffs for a single component.
01:29That would make American cars more expensive, and that would make it harder to do business in the United States.
