Trump’s Tariffs Will Raise Car Prices, but It’s Too Soon to Know When

There is no doubt the rates that President Trump said that he would have imported cars, trucks and cars imported next week will increase the prices of thousands of dollars for consumers.

What is not clear is how soon the increases will enter, how high they will go and which models will be influenced more.

Rates – 25 percent on vehicles and imported car parts – should come into force next Thursday. But many car retailers have declared to put aside the question of the price increases for now to focus on the end of March with a sales sale in the last weekend of the month.

“I’m not really thinking about what to do on prices,” said Adam Silverleib, owner of a Honda shop and a Volkswagen showroom on the outskirts south of Boston. “I’m trying to close the month and move as many cars I can.”

Silverleib also stressed that Mr. Trump had announced the rates before only to delay them just before they had effect. “We will see if something shines through in the next 96 hours,” he said on Thursday.

Auto analysts estimate that the rates add $ 4,000 or more at prices of many new vehicles that are assembled outside the United States. For some high -end models, such as fully loaded trucks, prices may increase by $ 10,000 or more.

But the full impact on retail prices may take time to become clear.

A variable is the administration’s decision to exclude the value of the components made in the United States from the rates that are used in cars assembled abroad. This could be significant for some cars and trucks made in Canada or Mexico with engines, transmissions or other main components from places such as Michigan and Ohio.

General Motors makes its chevrolet blazer in Mexico with American engines. On the contrary, Ford Motor creates trucks in US plants with engines made in Windsor, Ontario. Under the executive order that Mr. Trump signed on Wednesday, the GM engine value must be deducted before the rate of Mexican manufacture blazers is calculated. And Ford should pay a 25 % rate for each engine that brings from the Ontario.

“It all depends on where the vehicles come from, how many parties are imported and for how long it takes the government to understand how many parts will be tariff,” said Sam Fiorani, vice -president of Autophercast Solutions, a research company.

The car manufacturers generally have sufficient vehicles in retailers to last 60 or more days. Any vehicles currently imported into storage lots will not be subject to rates.

In recent weeks, Ford has accumulated Windsor buildings in the US warehouses to build a supply that was not subject to rates.

Most car manufacturers are still trying to solve exactly how to consider rates in the prices they charge for dealers. Some may increase prices only on imported models or those who have many important parts. Another option would be to increase prices moderately on all models, including those made at national level with domestic parts.

GM, Ford and other car manufacturers refused on Thursday to discuss their plans.

The competitive panorama could play a role in which course the car manufacturers choose. Ford Escape, for example, is made in Louisville, Ky., And is not subject to rates. It works with models that will be rates, such as the Toyota Rav4, which is assembled in Canada, and the Chevrolet equinox, which is made of Mexico and Canada.

If Toyota and GM increase prices on Rav4 and Equinox to cover the impact of rates, they may lose customers in Ford.

Other car manufacturers face different challenges. Volkswagen, for example, is destined to introduce this version of its vehicle of sporting utility Tiguan this spring, which is assembled in Mexico. Higher prices could dampen the vehicle demand, leaving Volkswagen to reconsider the prices and production plans that has developed in the last year.

Over time, rates may have wider effects. In some cases, consumers may meet deficiencies of some vehicles. Fiorani said he was not surprised if reduced car manufacturers or even eliminate sales of some entry-level cars that have generated modest profits for producers and retailers.

Convenient models, such as the Nissan Sentra, are assembled in Mexico, where workers make much less than their counterparts in the Midwest. Those low labor costs help to allow car manufacturers to sell such cars in the United States for a profit.

“In most cases, the producers of these models will be in positions where they will no longer be practicable products,” said Fiorani.