After the evolution of customs duties announced by Trump, car manufacturers in fog – Liberation
The « little gift » made by Donald Trump to car manufacturers on Tuesday, April 29, The evening of the 100 days of his inaugurationdid not frankly reassured them. The American president has signed a decree so that the manufacturers do not combine all customs taxes raised for a month, a retroactive measure on April 3. He had decided that day that Imported cars would be taxed at 25 % and noted customs duties on steel and aluminum At 25 % and he would prepare, according to him last month, to tax the spare parts on May 3 at the latest. Only the amount of the highest customs duties would be concerned.
This announcement, which leads to a relative relief of the customs invoice, was welcomed by Matt Blutt, the president of the association of American manufacturers – which represents the three historic manufacturers Ford, GM and Stellantis: « Applying multiple customs duties to the same product or the same spare part represented significant concern for American manufacturers and we are delighted that this was treated. »
Nevertheless, in the aftermath of this umpteenth turnaround, two manufacturers, French Stellantis And the German Mercedes Benz announced, during the presentation of their first quarter results, that they suspended their forecasts for this year. The first group invoked two reasons: « The evolution of customs tariffs » And « The difficulty of predicting the potential impacts on the market and the competitive landscape ». His financial director, Doug Ostermann, at a conference with analysts, explained that « Short term, it’s very disturbing and it has created a lot of uncertainty »while ensuring: « It is deeply believed that the intention of the American government is to strengthen American industry. » The second group (whose net profit plunged 43 % in the first quarter) warned, in a statement, that the uncertainty linked to trade policies and their effects on demand made « Any reliable forecasting impossible for the rest of the year ».
The French manufacturer, who has still not appointed general manager to replace Carlos Tavares left in Decemberis one of the European manufacturers most affected by the increase in customs duties. With his Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, Fiat marks, he produced outside the United States (in Mexico, Canada) two fifths of the cars he sells there. If he announced that he would increase his American production, he had to take a time to break certain factories to adapt to the new cost of parts linked to customs duties and the announced slowdown in the American market. Once the American policy is set, the group may « Review all of its supply chain », added Doug Ostermann.
In difficulty since 2024, the group saw its turnover drop by 14 % over a year in the first quarter of 2025, to 35.8 billion euros. The decline in turnover is notably linked to a reduction in sales by 9 %. If its figures are bad in the first quarter, Stellantis stresses that the first progress of its commercial recovery offensive are already seen and should accelerate in the second quarter. In the United States, the group also considers that customs duties could give it a competitive advantage over competitors producing more abroad, and therefore more affected by these taxes.
