US President Donald Trump’s administration formally imposed 25 percent tariffs on imported medium and heavy-duty trucks and parts, as well as a 10 percent duty on buses, while extending a key tariff reprieve for US automakers.
Trump signed a proclamation on Friday, hitting trucks and buses with tariffs beginning on Nov. 1, senior administration officials said.
The directive also prolongs through 2030 a tariff discount that Trump already provided carmakers that produce and sell completed cars in the US, and sets in motion plans to apply the same offset for truck duties.
Photo: Bloomberg
Truck imports that qualify for relief under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) would be exempt from the charges, but not buses, the officials said.
The administration is also creating an additional carveout for companies that make engines for passenger vehicles as well as medium and heavy-duty trucks in the US, which would be patterned on the existing offset program for completed vehicles, but would not take effect immediately.
The decisions underscore Trump’s difficult balancing act as he seeks to reorient global trade flows and revive domestic manufacturing. Trump has broadly wielded tariffs to penalize imports and spur domestic production and jobs, but manufacturers rely on global supply chains to produce finished goods in the US, exposing even domestic production to Trump’s duties.
Some truckmakers fiercely lobbied for reductions, and other stakeholders warned about the potential for sweeping tariffs to cause higher vehicle costs, which could also ripple through the construction and shipping industries.
The USMCA exemption could potentially dull the impacts on Ram pickups made by Stellantis NV in Mexico, representing some of the about 245,000 medium and heavy-duty trucks imported to the US last year, US Department of Commerce data showed.
Under the auto-tariff relief measure, carmakers can claim an offset worth 3.75 percent of the value of their US-made vehicles, which is meant to help blunt the cost of 25 percent duties on imported parts and provide time for supply chains to be shifted to the country.
While Trump initially planned a two-year phaseout for the offset, he is now extending the initiative for five years, the officials said. The engine program is also intended to cover the same timeframe.
The concession is a win for companies, including Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co, which said that Trump’s trade policies advantaged some foreign competitors. That is particularly true for cars made in Japan, which are subject to lower 15 percent tariffs under an agreement the country struck with the US, rather than the 27.5 percent rate they were previously charged under Trump.
The car part and truck tariffs are part of an expanding pool of levies Trump is wielding against a range of consumer goods — from steel and copper to lumber and upholstered furniture.
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