Trump says he ‘couldn’t care less’ if auto prices rise because of tariffs

[Trumpetman]

Don't count on it. Trump is hell bent on his economy destroying tariffs. And used cars have the same taxation, registration fees and insurance costs. Not to mention the price of used cars will also shoot up. It's called supply and demand. Think before you post nonsense next time.

So people reelected Trump because they can recall, regardless of the gaslighting of you and others, how the economy performed during his first term.

We also have an entire lifetime of examples of him building things. They may not all have been homeruns and he may have even struck out some but Trump has built, managed and handled real estate and other matters his entire adult life.

When has he ever had to destroy something to get ahead and you and others making that point, how does destroying everything get anyone ahead?

 

[Chomsky]

Tesla isn’t exempt from the tariffs.

Trump is simply on his bully pulpit. He doesn’t think through his actions and he doesn’t care about the impacts.

Average Americans will pay more for things and billionaires and corporations will get more tax breaks and be even richer.

That’s MAGA ‘Merica in a nutshell.

But Tesla has the least non-domestic content of any manufacturer marketing in the States.

Trump here greatly improved Tesla's market position. That why on the day of the announcement the auto-group crashed, while Tesla stock rose.

 

[mike2810]

Key point you seem to miss... when foreign automakers raise their prices due to tariffs, people will start buying American cars.

Key point. American cars will go up in price do to the parts tariff.

Key point. Supply/Demand. Let's say what you say is true. That the US consumer will look at American cars only because of price of imported cars. What do you think will happen to the price of America cars as demand increase? Do you remember when supply was limited during covid? Dealerships were selling cars above MSRP. imo, that could happen again. The Dealerships know if customer 1 does not buy then customer 2 will.

 

[mike2810]

shrug...

Does that irritate you? I don't care.

No.
Just shows you are wrong.

/dismissed

 

[The Hairy Fiddler]

Key point you seem to miss... when foreign automakers raise their prices due to tariffs, people will start buying American cars.

Talk about missing the obvious and wow.

My God you people fall for all of Trump's bullshit don't you? Smoot and Hawley preached the same shit in 1930. The market tanked and Americans dealt with a decade long depression. Enjoy your adulation of an orange economic idiot.

 

[Callen]

It's all just big talk until the tariffs kick in, if they kick in, and prices start to go up.......then we'll see

 

[Helix]

Weird. He said something true.

 

[Chomsky]

CNN isn't a valid news source

Given that it is, what may we infer from this post?

 

[Michael Cole]

The Ford alternator will increase as well, due to it being made elsewhere or containing parts or materials made elsewhere.

There's going to be no way out of this for anyone.

It really doesn't matter whether the Ford part increases or not. The low cost option is now being removed from the free market. The large market for low-cost parts now has to reevaluate its budget. Every individual who planned on buying the cheap alternator and taking his kids out to pizza, now has to cook dinner himself. The car starts, Ford hires a worker, Chuck E Cheese lays off two.

Trump is taking away our choices. I prefer the cheap alternative and taking the kids out to pizza. Instead, Elon Musk gets that money through a tax cut.

It's smoke and mirrors. People were dumb pre-election, but they've caught on to the "tariffs will make us rich" lies. When prices go up and people feel the pinch, "tariffs" will become the most hated word, much to Trump's dismay.

 

[Trumpetman]

The poster's argument is nonsense. The number of used cars available is finite. It needs to be replenished by the used cars of those purchasing new cars.

All cars (& running costs) are going up. There's no where & no way to hide from this.

Yes and no. Car often leave the United States right now when the cost of upkeep and repair exceed the cost to benefit for our own market. They don't really need to be removed though and they don't need to be taken out of service. It is just more cost beneficial to do that but if the cost of new vehicles or the availability of them were to alter then all the variables down the line as well.

If my old 1991 Chevy 2500 that likely went to Mexico were cheaper to keep here or cheaper to bring back here than a new 3/4 ton pick up which now often is in the $100k range, then myself and others would go down and purchase those used cars and return them and stop allowing them to be exported as well to secondary markets.

 

[The Hairy Fiddler]

So people reelected Trump because they can recall, regardless of the gaslighting of you and others, how the economy performed during his first term.

We also have an entire lifetime of examples of him building things. They may not all have been homeruns and he may have even struck out some but Trump has built, managed and handled real estate and other matters his entire adult life.

When has he ever had to destroy something to get ahead and you and others making that point, how does destroying everything get anyone ahead?

Yeah he built 6 bankruptcies. Go with that for starters. Cult members are a gullible, sick bunch of people.

 

[Ho Ho Ho!]

Wow. I'll just limit my reply to this. The whole post is a mess, but this part is blatantly false. Borderline dishonest:

And Trump is right on this issue--if foreign-made cars choose to price themselves out...

The only choice here is being made by Trump. The car companies haven't chosen to enact tariffs on their products.

And Trump is wrong. Unless "I will lower prices on day one" really means "the price of everything is going up." To those who see it that way, emotions are the least of their worries.

Lol...so foreign automakers don't have control over their own location of production, pricing, contracts, budgets, business plan, etc. etc. etc. because Trump controls all of that?

Yeah, your post just exemplified exactly what I said in my post about leftists being driven by emotional hysteria. Everything is the end of the world and, due to the irrational emotionality, there is a refusal/inability to see past the all-or-nothing cognitive distortions.

This isn't a step 1-step 2, cause-and-effect process. There's a never-ending series of adaptations that will result. Corporations always find a way to operate in ways that promote their self-interest, and this instance will be no different.

FFS, you're acting like Toyota, Honda, and every other foreign automaker is going to throw their hands up and declare bankruptcy tomorrow because of the tariffs. This will provoke a predictable shift in their business models because they cannot lose the American market. What will predictably happen in the majority of cases is that the other countries will drop their preexisting tariffs on the US in exchange for us dropping our tit-for-tat tariffs so that they can get back to business as usual. Unless they find alternative agreements that are mutually beneficial to their companies and US consumers, in which case they'll go that route.

The sky is not falling. This is not the end of the world. Stop falling for the ridiculous hype on everything. One would think that after the millionth time of being tricked, people would finally learn their lesson, but nope....

 

[W_Heisenberg]

The only time I've seen a Trump supporter express regret over supporting Trump is when they've personally suffered as a result of his policies.

It's only when they've personally been fired from their government job they thought was essential do they care.

It's only when they've lost some government benefit or service that was absolutely essential to them, but disposable to someone else, do they care.

They have to suffer first.

Trump letting them know he doesn't give a shit about what they pay to buy their cars won't change anything.

It's only when a Trump supporter goes to repair their car or buy their car and notice it's much higher than before will they actually care.

 

[Trumpetman]

Key point. American cars will go up in price do to the parts tariff.

Key point. Supply/Demand. Let's say what you say is true. That the US consumer will look at American cars only because of price of imported cars. What do you think will happen to the price of America cars as demand increase? Do you remember when supply was limited during covid? Dealerships were selling cars above MSRP. imo, that could happen again. The Dealerships know if customer 1 does not buy then customer 2 will.

You address the demand side. How do the supply side. You've got a lucrative local market where have good profits and guaranteed customers.

What happens to the supply side when you've got all of that?

Go on, you can say it.

 

[Allan]

Key point you seem to miss... when foreign automakers raise their prices due to tariffs, people will start buying American cars.

Talk about missing the obvious and wow.

Why would foreign automakers raise prices? You're paying the tariffs at the border.

 

[cpwill]

Anyone still think he is going to reduce inflation "starting day one"? It looks to me like he doesn't care about inflation at all.

A car is one of the most expensive items people buy with the average new car price around $48k. Adding $12k to the sticker price is something consumers will care about, even if Donald doesn't.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/29/business/trump-auto-prices-tariffs/index.html

I have multiple kids who will need cars over the next 5 years.

Thanks, Donny!

 

[Chomsky]

The reciprocal tariffs that are going into effect will only levy tariffs on incoming goods at the rate that these other countries levy tariffs on US goods being sold in their country.

If they want a lower tariff on their goods sold in the US then they have two options:

1) Move their manufacturing of products to be sold in the US to the US or..

2) Lower their tariffs on US goods.

The practical upshot of this is to either increase US manufacturing by making American goods more competitive in these foreign markets or bringing more manufacturing to to the US by companies who want to sell in the US.

And this pisses some Americans off for some reason...

For "some" reason?

I'll give you the reason: He's inflating our living costs. And that's a pretty good reason.

 

[Chomsky]

This is all inflationary, which pisses people off for good reason. Have you forgotten "groceries" already?

It will also slow economic growth and possibly result in economic contraction. Layoffs. Yay.

Yes, people who understand these things are pissed. Others simply blame everything on Bidenflation and call it a day.

Cars are going-up as much as 5 figures. But you know, eggs came down a few cents!

 

[Chomsky]

I ask you the same question: Do foreign countries only manufacture goods for sale in the US?

Why do you ask?

 

[Chomsky]

That's not even remotely true.

The US levied 25% tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel. We had no tariffs on US metal.

The US is about to levy 25% on Canadian autos and auto parts. We had no tariffs on American vehicles and parts.

Coming from MAGA? Who'd have think it?

 

[Chomsky]

They won't last? His last tranche of idiotically reckless tariffs are still negatively impacting your economy. And you clearly bought that bridge...while Trump is steering you onto a reef.

Did Trump’s tariffs benefit American workers and national security? | Brookings

Geoffrey Gertz explains who pays for American tariffs and how they affect workers and national security.

www.brookings.edu

The bazooka diplomacy of Trump’s tariffs

President Trump’s recent pronouncements on tariffs have received considerable attention from analysts, policymakers, and commentators. This column takes a step back and considers some of the broader arguments for raising tariffs – revenue, restriction, and reciprocity – and the potential...

cepr.org

Fact Check: Did the Trump tariffs lower prices for American consumers? | Econofact

econofact.org

Good find!

 

[L88]

Benito Mussolini famously used the phrase "Me ne frego!" which translates to "I don't care!", and it became a well-known motto associated with him.

 

[jaeger19]

This is the current trend.

Experts say that if you continue the current trend using these new variables the current trend will cost more.

Yes but isn't the point of the new variable to alter the current trend?

Sorry we can't discuss that. We can't imagine a scenario where behaviors and patterns are altered by the new variable like tariffs. Our job is to just apply the new variables to the current trends and presume everyone will keep doing the same thing no matter what.

Well as I stated . People who switch from buying cars that are made elsewhere? I.e highest tariffs
Will mean greater demand for “ American made cars”
Greater demand for American made cars will cause the price of American made cars will go up.
( assuming that the tariffs will work . Which is a big assumption since people choose cars on things other than price)



Sorry but trump can’t wave a magic wand and make the economic reality of supply and demand disappear.

I do welcome what YOU think will happen.

 

[jmotivator]

Why do you ask?

Because the assertion of the question I was answering is that the US trying to onshore manufacturing for goods sold in the United states means other countries won't have manufacturing. There's the whole rest of the world to produce for.

 

[Michael Cole]

Why would foreign automakers raise prices? You're paying the tariffs at the border.

If anything, the companies will take a temporary hit to remain competitive. They may even look to their governments for subsidies in waiting out Trump's dumbest trade war in history, which will be defunct no later than January 2029, and likely much sooner. What they're not going to do is close up shop over there and bring manufacturing over here. Only a fool would think companies will divest only to invest, only to divest four years later. Insanity, these Trump supporters.