Trump Pauses Most Tariffs – But Leaves Those Impacting Autos in Place

President Donald Trump paused for 90 days most of the tariffs that went into effect earlier this month targeting virtually all U.S. trade partners. But he left in place sectoral tariffs, notably including those imparting import autos and auto parts, as well as foreign-made steel and aluminum. He also increased tariffs on countries, such as China, that responded to his original order with increased trade sanctions of their own. Headlight.News has more.

Coming under increasing pressure from the business community, Wall Street — and even members of his own Republican Party – Pres. Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause in the broad tariffs he announced more than a week ago – but did leave some trade sanctions in effect.

Those fall into two categories, including sectoral tariffs such as the new 25% duties covering foreign-made autos and auto parts, as well as imported steel and aluminum. Also left in place: tariffs on countries – notably China – who responded to Trump’s earlier move by increasing their own tariffs. Goods from China – including autos — now face 125% in tariffs.

Still, there may be reason to see the latest move from the White House as a positive development, some automotive experts said, providing a sense that subsequent moves could also give manufacturers what one described as “breathing room” to develop less hurried strategies to cope with new tariffs.

Trump hits the pause button

The broad new tariffs Trump originally announced covered more than 75 countries, though the precise figures varied by nation and, critics said, the plan had substantial flaws, among other things, naming targets that turned out to be uninhabited islands.

While the White House downplayed such issues, it had a harder time ignoring the economic fallout that saw U.S. stock exchanges – and most major markets abroad — post some of their most substantial losses in decades. That, in turn, triggered a rare pushback from within the normally supportive Republican Party, several key members proposing limits on the president’s unilateral ability to levy tariffs.

During a meeting with reporters on the White House lawn Wednesday afternoon, Trump tried to put a positive spin on his step back, telling them, “Look, nothing is over yet,” adding that, “We’ll see how it all works out.” For his part, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted it “took great courage for him to stay the course until this moment.”

Auto tariff remain in effect

But the 90-day pause the president announced left out some sectoral sanctions that were already in effect by last month, notably the 25% duties now covering imported autos and auto parts, as well as tariffs on foreign-made steel and aluminum.

Also unaffected: sanctions against countries that responded to the broad national tariffs with new duties of their own. That primarily means China. If anything, that country now sees tariffs on its goods rising to 125%. That is a potentially disastrous development for two Detroit automakers who were hoping to build bilateral auto trade between the U.S. and China.

General Motors recently created its new Durant Guild unit to handle exports to China of products like the American-made Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs. Depending upon the size of the engines in such vehicles, they will be subject by Chinese trade authorities of tariffs ranging from 49 to 59% starting on April 10. Until now, American-made vehicles were hit with 15% duties, though vehicles with engines larger than 2.5 liters faced additional 10% tariffs.

China had been the third-largest export market for U.S. autos, behind Japan and Germany, though volume fell 13% in 2024, to 109,356 vehicles, reported Automotive News.

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Automakers would love some breathing room

The impact of the tit-for-tat battle with China could be significant, possibly all but shutting down American exports to what is the world’s largest auto market, several experts said, asking to remain on background while trade policies still appear to be in flux.

Meanwhile, auto manufacturers and their suppliers are hoping that the Trump administration may follow on Wednesday’s move by also pausing the tariffs targeting their sector – including the sanctions on imported metals.

Trump has “clearly heard the message” that his broad tariff plan was not well received, Sam Abuelsamid, data director for Telemetry Research told Headlight.News.

He said automakers would also like “more breathing room” to lay out cogent strategies to deal with tariffs – if they ultimately were to remain in place.

Plans in flux

Manufacturers have raced to lay out strategies. For some, including the Hyundai Motor Group, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, that means they will avoid raising prices – at least for the short-term.

Others will increase prices and, like Volkswagen, plan to break out higher tariff costs on their Munroney window stickers. Some brands, including Europeans Jaguar Land Rover, Lamborghini and Lotus, intend to pause vehicle shipments to the U.S.

Mazda CEO Jeff Guyton summed up the challenge manufacturers face, saying he this week submitted what he described as “Plan A and Plan B” to the carmaker’s board but had yet to lay out a final strategy. Whatever that is, he told Headlight.News during a meeting at Mazda headquarters in Hiroshima, Japan, it will include price hikes because the automaker can’t afford to “swallow” tariffs likely to run into the thousands of dollars for its typical product lines.