The additional cost per vehicle will vary by manufacturer and model, but industrywide costs from the tariff and Canada’s $2.7 billion countertariffs on U.S. goods, mostly aluminum products, could add up to at least “hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said.
Autos Drive America, a trade association representing major international automakers, echoed those concerns. The group, formerly known as Here for America, said the effect of the tariff is increasing uncertainty in the market and higher costs as price increases are absorbed up and down the supply chain.
And it’s the consumer who will pay the price, according to Ann Wilson, senior vice president of government affairs at the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association. For global supply chains, a tariff on aluminum has a cumulative effect for companies dependent on raw materials and finished goods from around the world. For the association’s members, that means facing additional tariffs on U.S. imports from China and absorbing steel and aluminum tariffs on some imports from regions outside North America, including Japan and the European Union.
“Manufacturing flourishes when there’s certainty,” Wilson said. “Overall, I’m not sure that this particular decision shakes up the future of USMCA. But it does not assist in an effort to provide a more stable market, a more stable environment.”
