Top auto groups in the United States have uncharacteristically rallied together to lobby against the Trump administration's looming 25% tariffs on auto parts.
The coalition of groups includes the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, American Automotive Policy Council, Autos Drive America and National Automobile Dealers Association.
They appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump in a letter expressing concern surrounding the tariffs set to be implemented on 3 May. They argued that the levy on foreign-made auto parts could cause U.S. plant shutdowns and job losses.
“Tariffs on auto parts will scramble the global automotive supply chain and set off a domino effect that will lead to higher auto prices for consumers, lower sales at dealerships and will make servicing and repairing vehicles both more expensive and less predictable,” the letter said.
The letter was dated April 21 and was addressed to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer.
The groups said they represent the country’s top manufacturing sector, supporting 10 million American jobs across all states, injecting US$1.2 trillion into the economy every year.
Auto officials estimate that there will be a dip in vehicle sales amounting to millions of units, higher new and used vehicle prices and an increased cost of more than US$100 billion across the industry.
“We support more manufacturing and additional supply chains that run through the United States, but it is not possible to reroute global supply chains overnight or even in months. This will take time,” reads the letter.
This comes a week after Trump expressed that he wants to “help some of the car companies”.
“I’m looking for something to help some of the car companies, where they’re switching to parts that were made in Canada, Mexico and other places, and they need a little bit of time because they’re going to make them here,” Trump said April 14.
“But they need a little bit of time, so I’m talking about things like that.”
