Car manufacturers in the dark after Trump's tariff changes

The "little gift" Donald Trump gave to car manufacturers on Tuesday, April 29, the evening of his 100th inauguration , did not exactly reassure them. The American president signed an executive order to prevent manufacturers from accumulating all the customs duties increased over the past month, a measure retroactive to April 3. He had decided that day that imported cars would be taxed at 25% and raised customs duties on steel and aluminum to 25% and he would prepare, according to his statements last month, to tax spare parts by May 3 at the latest. Only the highest amount of customs duties would be affected.

This announcement, which leads to a relative reduction in the customs bill, was welcomed by Matt Blutt, president of the American Manufacturers Association - which represents the three historic manufacturers Ford, GM and Stellantis: "Applying multiple customs duties on the same product or the same spare part was a significant concern for American manufacturers and we are pleased that this has been addressed."

However, the day after this umpteenth reversal, two manufacturers, the French Stellantis and the German Mercedes Benz, announced, during the presentation of their first-quarter results, that they were suspending their forecasts for this year. The first group cited two reasons: "the evolution of customs tariffs" and "the difficulty in predicting their potential impacts on the market and the competitive landscape." Its financial director, Doug Ostermann, during a conference with analysts, explained that "in the short term, it is very disruptive and it has created a lot of uncertainty," while assuring: "We strongly believe that the intention of the American government is to strengthen American industry." The second group (whose net profit plunged by 43% in the first quarter) warned, in a press release, that the uncertainty linked to trade policies and their effects on demand made "any reliable forecast impossible for the rest of the year."

The French automaker, which has still not appointed a CEO to replace Carlos Tavares, who left in December , is one of the European automakers most affected by the tariff hike. With its Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, and Fiat brands, it produces two-fifths of the cars it sells outside the United States (in Mexico and Canada). While it has announced that it will increase its American production, it had to temporarily pause certain factories to adapt to the new cost of parts linked to the tariffs and the announced slowdown in the American market. Once the American policy is fixed, the group will be able to "review its entire supply chain," added Doug Ostermann.

Struggling since 2024, the group saw its revenue fall by 14% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, to €35.8 billion. The decline in revenue is notably linked to a 9% drop in sales. While its figures were poor in the first quarter, Stellantis emphasizes that the first progress in its commercial recovery offensive is already visible and should accelerate in the second quarter. In the United States, the group also believes that customs duties could give it a competitive advantage over competitors that produce more abroad, and are therefore more affected by these taxes.