Are we liberated yet? Trump announces automobile tariffs as part of sweeping new taxes on Americans

At an event at the White House, President Trump just announced his “recipricol” tariffs that he has been talking about for weeks. Starting tonight at midnight, a 25% tariff on all imported vehicles will go into effect. Additionally, tariffs across the board will go into effect for every country that tariffs United States goods.

Let’s talk about the auto tariffs first. For every vehicle imported into the United States, it’ll be taxed at an additional 25%. Presumably, that also includes parts from suppliers. Additionally, taxes on steel and aluminum will also still exist, which could drive the price of an automobile up to $10,000 to $15,000. Even vehicles assembled in the United States use components from countries like Canada and Mexico and will be subjected to new tariffs.

Trump also announced, without any independent confirmation, that automakers like General Motors and Nissan and Honda were all committing tens of billions of dollars to new manufacturing facilities in the United States. We’ll wait for an official announcement from the respective companies before we confirm the news.

As for the “reciprocal” tariffs, we’ve been using parenthisis because the tariffs aren’t reciprocal. Trump’s team calculated the tariffs, believed currency manipulation, and other grievances and then computes a percentage. The U.S. tariffs will then be 50% of that number, because Trump says he’s being nice.

Outside of automotive directly, electronics are likely to increase in price, with Vietnam being taxed at 46% and South Korea at 25%. If you need any new computer components, no you don’t.

Trump claims this will generate $6 trillion in revenue, and he blamed the Great Depression on the income tax system and said it wouldn’t have happened if there were just tariffs. Now, though, we have tariffs and federal income tax. So how is that better?

Economists with a brain recognize that these tariffs are likely going to cripple the economy. We spoke with an analyst earlier in the week who expects at least 1 to 1.5 million fewer vehicles to be sold domestically this year, thanks to increased overall costs. That will likely lead to plant closures and people out of jobs.

The only thing we appear to be liberated from is global respect and our economy.