Trump presses ahead with 25% car tariffs, ratcheting up trade war

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a 25 per cent tariff on imported cars and light trucks starting next week, widening the global trade war he kicked off upon regaining the White House this year in a move auto industry experts expect will drive up prices and stymie production.

“What we’re going to be doing is a 25 per cent tariff for all cars that are not made in the United States,” Trump said at an event in the Oval Office.

Trump, who sees tariffs as a tool to raise revenue to offset his promised tax cuts and to revive a long-declining US industrial base, said collections would begin on April 3, the day after he plans to announce reciprocal tariffs aimed at the countries responsible for the bulk of the US trade deficit.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the move as “bad for businesses, worse for consumers”, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney labelled it a “direct attack” on Canadian workers.

“We will defend our workers, we will defend our companies, we will defend our country, and we will defend it together,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa.