Trump Imposes 25% Tariff on Imported Automobiles and Certain Auto Parts Under Section 232
On March 26, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Proclamation 10908 at the White House in Washington, invoking Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts. The proclamation finds that imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts continue to threaten to impair the national security of the United States, and that tariffs are necessary and appropriate to adjust those imports so they will not do so.
The automobiles covered are sedans, sport utility vehicles, crossover utility vehicles, minivans, cargo vans, and light trucks; the parts covered are engines and engine parts, transmissions and powertrain parts, and electrical components, with the specific articles listed in the proclamation's annex and subsequent notices in the Federal Register. The 25 percent tariff is an ad valorem duty, imposed in addition to any other duties, fees, exactions, and charges on the imports, and no drawback is available. For automobiles it applies to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on April 3, 2025; for automobile parts it applies on the date specified in the Federal Register, but no later than May 3, 2025.
For automobiles qualifying for preferential tariff treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), importers may submit documentation to the Secretary of Commerce identifying the amount of U.S. content in each model; once approved, the 25 percent tariff applies exclusively to the value of the non-U.S. content, calculated by subtracting the U.S. content from the automobile's total value. If U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) determines that the declared non-U.S. content is inaccurate because U.S. content was overstated, the 25 percent tariff applies to the full value of the automobile regardless of its actual U.S. content, retroactively and prospectively to all automobiles of the same model imported by the same importer. For automobile parts qualifying under the USMCA, the tariff does not apply until the Secretary, in consultation with CBP, establishes a process to apply it exclusively to the non-U.S. content of the parts and publishes notice in the Federal Register; automobile knock-down kits and parts compilations are not covered by that deferral.
The proclamation traces its findings to the Secretary of Commerce's February 17, 2019 report under Section 232, which concluded that automobile and parts imports threatened national security, a finding Trump concurred in with Proclamation 9888 of May 17, 2019. The 2025 proclamation says the COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical vulnerabilities in global supply chains, American manufacturers have faced material, parts, and labor shortages, and foreign industries have grown on subsidies and industrial policies, while the USMCA, the revised U.S.-Korea trade agreement, and legislation have not sufficiently eliminated the threat. A White House fact sheet issued the same day said Americans bought approximately 16 million cars, SUVs, and light trucks in 2024, half of them imports, and that the United States trade deficit in automobile parts reached $93.5 billion in 2024.
The proclamation also directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish, within 90 days, a process for including additional automobile parts within the scope of the tariffs, under which domestic producers or industry associations may file requests and the Secretary, after consulting the International Trade Commission and CBP, decides within 60 days; the Secretary is to keep monitoring automobile and parts imports and report to the President on their national-security status. The tariffs continue in effect unless expressly reduced, modified, or terminated.
Related: Trump Signs Orders Imposing 25% Tariffs on Canada and Mexico, 10% on China
(Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2025年3月26日，特朗普在白宫椭圆形办公室宣布对进口汽车加征关税，身旁立着「美国湾」地图（白宫官方照片，Molly Riley 摄，公共领域）。 / Image: President Donald Trump announces tariffs on auto imports in the Oval Office on March 26, 2025, next to a map of the Gulf of America (official White House photo by Molly Riley, public domain).
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- 2025-03-26Trump Imposes 25% Tariff on Imported Automobiles and Certain Auto Parts Under Section 232This story
