关注公众号“Freya说英语” 领取1~973期原版外刊讲义PDF

The Real Victims Of Trump’s Tariffs Might Be American Carmakers Themselves

President Trump’s new tariffs on imported cars are meant to protect domestic automakers and safeguard US jobs. In the automotive world, though, things aren’t so simple, and the tariffs that went into effect on April 2 may do more harm to the very same companies that they’re supposed to benefit than their overseas rivals.

The simple reason is that American brands don’t make all their models Stateside. In fact, last year, GM, Ford, and Stellantis, aka Detroit’s Big Three, sold approximately 1.85 million imported light vehicles in the US, which represent 13% of their combined global sales.

By comparison, Japan’s three largest automakers, namely Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, collectively sold 1.53 million units in the States. The difference may not seem that great, but this number accounts for just 9% of their global sales. As for the Germans, imported cars from the VW Group, BMW Group, and Mercedes-Benz represented 7% of their total sales.

This means that domestic automakers actually depend more on importing vehicles from their plants in countries like Canada and Mexico than their main foreign rivals. Moreover, as the report points out, Detroit’s Big Three rely much more on their home market than European and Japanese brands, which have a bigger global outreach.

关注公众号“Freya说英语” 领取1~973期原版外刊讲义PDF