Expecting some announcements from Toyota next on the Tacoma! Will be interesting to see price announcements. I don’t think manufacturers can raise pricing much if at all so they’re going to have to get creative to cut costs. Many of those cost cuts will likely come from automation unfortunately, so not sure how many new jobs this will create but at least some including building contracts.
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Don’t worry, cars will become more expensive but the real job creators will benefit. Who you may ask are the real job creators? Big law litigators of coure.
Automakers will fight the tariffs but are also going to fight tooth and nail on the value of imported goods.
That transmission that used to be valued at $2,000, maybe they leave one chip off of it and slap that on at the assembly plant. Sure it adds cost to the transmission but without that chip, they argue the transmission is only worth $500 when it crosses the border and pay the tariff on that. It’s impossible to precisely value something like that incomplete transmission.
Or the question of final assembly. Sure it is going to be more expensive to do “final” final assembly in the USA for a car that used to be completed in Canada or Mexico. But the lawyers will figure out just how “incomplete” a car needs to be when shipped across the border to not have to pay the tariff on a completed vehicle but rather closer to part value.
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i applaud honda for the effort.
However as we have seen by those in the industry, even if automakers want to bring back all North American assembly to the USA, it could easily take a decade to do so in reality: locating the assembly plants; gaining approvals, tax incentives and funding; getting suppliers lined up; getting shovels in the ground; hiring the required skilled labour; opening the plants, training workers, getting the first prototypes off the line.
Side note:
Toyota was in actual production hell right yesterday (the situation is fluid) TMMC for example has engines made in WV exported upto them. It gets plonked on a RX, then imported back. How many Tariffs can one count?
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You’re exactly right they will find looopholes if this even lasts but I don’t think it will. As usual tons of fear mongering in the media. Cars can only be priced at a level that the market bears and we’re pretty maxed out as is if you look at the data. Manufacturers need to move metal, they don’t really profit much off new car sales it’s f&i, service etc where the money is made and they need to move metal to keep that going. So they will take losses on sales if need be and cut expenses elsewhere.
From the sound of it last night there will be loopholes left in place on purpose so the industry isn’t hurt. This is all a threat to get what they want. I don’t think any of this will come to fruition. Other countries will drop their tariffs or lose American exports. They need American dollars as much as we need their imports, actually more. And the playing field needs to be level, just look at the tariffs Canada has on us, many commodities are over 100% tariff.
America proved they can print money and sustain themselves longer than everyone else thus far. The dollar is still strong around the world. That’s the advantage when you’re the global reserve currency. We have all the cards still and our trading partners know it and will make the concessions needed.
I also like that American cars will get a tax deduction on interest. Makes sense as most people use their vehicles 90% of the time for commuting. That will only benefit the upper middle class that actually itemizes though, but they pay the bulk of income taxes as is so…
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If you have to leave a loophole so the industry isnt hurt, did the self inflicted pain really work?
As consumers we will get the short end of the stick as usual. The industry wants stability as the car you drive today takes a about a decades worth of preplanning to bring to your local dealership. Evs take way less but still its not something that can be made to order in 30 minutes or less.
New development programs…paused pending review or straight up cancelled. Current vehicle programs will be extended so same old vehicle will be sold until stability is brought back.
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What I was describing wasn’t a loophole, it was a poorly defined taxation regimen that was vague to the extreme. Trump exempting auto imports from Mexico and Canada 24 hours after introducing the tariffs is a someone who, IMO, is very sensitive to declines in the stock market and doesn’t have the willingness to cause a significant decline in the S&P 500 by sticking by his policies. Generally I am less worried than most about Trump’s tariffs cause I don’t think this is a one off. He is not going to stick with any policy that causes the market to suffer a big setback.
This has to be the stupidest idea I have ever heard. But if interest on lease payments are included…sign me up!
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Why is giving Americans back some of their tax money dumb? So just wealthy business owners get to take advantage of the tax code using section 179? Automobiles are a direct expense to income for most people.
And yes Trump is def sensitive to the market and clearly using tariffs as leverage, not to hurt Americans. Blows my mind that people are ok with china canada etc tariffing our exports but if we do the same they’re outraged.
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Hey that’s a segue to a cool idea.
They should let Americans deduct the expense of a Made-In-USA (domestic parts content over a certain % with end assembly in the USA) vehicle from their 1040 without having to 179 that stuff. H-1B’s and E-1’s don’t get this awesomeness. Can’t wait to see the Made in USA Porsche 911. Zuffenhausen is overrated.
I mean you’d need a job to benefit from type of deduction, but that’s a separate problem.
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Let’s start from the top assuming it is an above the line deduction and not something that just benefits people who itemize.
- Adds a whole level of complexity to car loans. Every car loan servicer would need to send 1098 style forms for every loan that was active for a portion of the year and set up reporting procedures to get that info to the IRS. We dont want to make servicing auto loans more complicated and make the actual cost of ownership of a vehicle more opaque.
- Which brings us to the bigger issue. The median American family only has a marginal FEDERAL INCOME TAX rate of about 10%-12% (FICA and state taxes probably double that on average). Deducting car loan interest payments might be worth a a few hundred dollars a year. Whereas someone making a million dollars a year and buying a Lambo might save 10K a year. This is an incredibly regressive tax idea that will do little to help the median family.
I am not making an argument for increasing or decreasing the total government take. I am making an argument for simplicity and less paperwork. If we want to cut taxes in a regressive way just lower the top marginal rate by .1%. If you want to be progressive lower the bottom two marginal rates by .1% or increase the earned income tax credit. Things like this are how we end up with our bloated overly complex tax code. No more little complex carve outs. Just increase or decrease tax rates based on revenue target.
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Prior to 1987, most personal interest expenses, including interest on car loans, could be written off as an itemized deduction.
Deals, Wheels, and Deductions: The Fiscal Effects of a Car Loan Interest Tax Deduction.
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I’m all for no income taxes, simplify the whole system and do away with it, but will gladly take another deduction, wouldn’t be on a lambo anyway unless they build them in America. On the other hand I don’t pay interest unless it’s on a lease so won’t really affect me either way. But I’m ok with people that do getting some more of their own money back.
Banks already have systems in place for tax forms shouldn’t complicate much. And yes the median household doesn’t pay much fed tax or even itemize, which is why they won’t benefit from it. So it’s the people that pay entirely too much that get screwed at every turn at least would. It’s a step in the right direction, anything is better than nothing.
Yep, and we got rid of it with the bipartisan comprise that dramatically lowered tax rates. Reagan lowered taxes and at the same time made the tax code simpler. But that was also a very different system than an above the line deduction. It was just for people who itemized. Today if you only make this tax credit available to people who itemize it would significantly lower the cost of this plan but as that link you shared shows, the benefit of the tax cut would be almost exclusively for the top 25%.
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To be clear, the civic has been made in Indiana for close to 20 years. There was talk of moving it to Mexico in 2027 or 2028 which has reportedly been cancelled.
Bc the top 25% of INDIVIDUALS pay more than 90% of individual income taxes While we spent like 7 trillion. Eliminate federal individual income taxes and this country will boom like nothing anyone’s ever seen
Country was well on its way to bankruptcy well before he at least attempted to save it. And as for his corporate bankruptcies blame the law makers he didn’t write the laws. He tried to turn around AC and it was a bad investment. Mainly due to their terrible lawmakers as well.
Not sure why the naysayers won’t give a different perspective a chance, can’t keep kicking the proverbial can down the road forever. But you people can’t cheer for a cancer kid so that says a lot
Im not sure where you are pulling numbers from, but they are mostly WAY off.
In 2023, 48.7% of total revenue was collected from income taxes from or around 2.18 trillion. After that we have payroll taxes accounting for 36.6%. Then you finally see corporate income taxes at a measly 9.4% of 2023 revenue. Out of 4.47T in total collections.
I agree we need to get the deficit and national debt under control, but it’s not going to happen through trade. We can either increase taxes or reduce spending. We tried the trade war thing before, in the early 1930s. Didn’t go great.
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Treasury.gov unless incorrect
Sorry was thus far in 2025. Pulled up the wrong table. Still the top pay the majority. And corporate makes up the rest. Still the deficit was mainly my point and can’t compare the 1930s trade to today…moot point and still no one on either side are talking about the impact of automation. The #1 factor going forward. Theres a reason for that, basically the majority of humanity will be obsolete
Let’s keep this on topic of tariffs affecting the auto industry guys. Good or bad. Going forward that’s what’s relevant to what we do here
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"Honda has made no such announcement and will not comment on this report. The Honda Civic has been made in our Indiana Auto Plant since the facility opened in 2008 based on our longstanding approach to build products close to the customer. We have the flexibility to produce products in each region based on customer needs and market conditions."
As for Trump’s claim about a new Honda plant, the company said this: "We thank President Trump for recognizing our commitment to manufacturing vehicles in America, and we look forward to working with the administration and Congress on pro-growth policies that support a robust U.S. auto industry. While Honda did not announce plans for a new plant in the U.S. at this time, we have invested over $3 billion in advanced vehicle manufacturing in America in just the past three years, with a cumulative total of more than $24.7 billion. We look forward to continuing to invest locally and build quality products in America, as Honda has been doing for the past 45 years."
Houston we have a problem.
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Came from Reuters pretty sure they’re not a right wing propaganda arm. Apparently Honda was planning to go to Mexico and now they’re not.
And good for Honda for building cars where they sell them. As I said above I believe the tariffs were threats to influence companies to build here. Negotiating tactics