SAN ANTONIO – U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced a 25% tariff on imported cars and certain auto parts from other countries.
A tariff is like a tax but specifically on goods imported from another country. The added tax is expected to be collected on April 3 but no later than May 3.
Trinity University Economics Professor Dr. David Macpherson refers to the current implementation of tariffs as “economic malpractice.”
“The last time we had this amount of trade war was back in the 1930s,” Macpherson said.
The 25% tax on cars and certain auto parts follows similar recently announced tariffs on steel, aluminum and pharmaceuticals.
One of Trump’s key reasons for introducing the 25% tariff is to “maintain a resilient domestic industrial base” and “strengthen America’s manufacturing industry.”
“So we’ll effectively be charging a 25% tariff, but if you build your car in the U.S., there is no tariff,” Trump said.
“It may create some jobs in the auto industry here, but it’s going to cost jobs elsewhere,” Macpherson said. “Because if people are spending more money to buy cars, that gives them less money to buy other goods.”
These tariffs stand to impact more than just the people who are buying cars themselves. Katherine, a college student at Trinity University, doesn’t drive for medical reasons.
However, in a city where auto transportation is necessary to get around, she worries about the people who help her get from one location to another.
“I might not own a car, but, yeah, I use cars to get everywhere in my life,” Katherine said. “So I’m thinking about my parents. I think about my mom’s car being 15 years old. She’s not going to be able to afford to buy a new car.”
Not only has this created the idea of new roadblocks for consumers and people who benefit from auto parts, but it has also had a larger financial impact.
“The stock market has fallen in response to these tariffs,” Macpherson said. “It’s economic malpractice.”
Trump has also teased ahead in a social media post that April 2 is “Liberation Day in America”.
In a separate post on Truth Social, Trump said, “If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large-scale tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both.”
“I don’t want to live in a country where it feels like everything is being attacked all at once,” Katherine said. “Higher education, trade policies, immigration policies.”
It’s unclear what any additional tariffs will look like under the current administration, but Trump has made it clear that we can expect more to come on April 2.
Read also
