USA Import Duty

[KJohn3333]

I read this week that following Donald Trumps election victory that one of his plans is to increase import duty on non American made cars. This must be a major concern for European manufacturers. I guess those people with vehicle orders before the new government are going to pay much less than they will after next January. Could this extra tax influence more American’s to reconsider what manufacturer you choose In the future?

 

[tmrqs]

Depends on how much and what the automobile landscape looks like then.
Too early to say... but also, it's bigger than just cars, a trade war could/would impact everything.

 

[PanameraFrank]

It's going to be bleak. Import cars being more expensive means US cars will be, too.

It's easy enough to look at countries that have high import dues currently and see how expensive Porsches are there.

Given that Elon Musk is now effectively VP you can expect any competition of Tesla to be severely impacted.

 

[DTaxman]

I have an order with an estimated delivery date of end of February. It will be interesting to see (i) if he actually asserts broad tariffs of 20% as he said, and (ii) the timing. If I have to pay another $20K for my Macan, I suspect I will not complete my transaction and will forgo my deposit and start to look at other options (most likely a used vehicle)

It is too early to tell at this point, but I would expect it would not be a day one implementation of tariffs as Trump will want to leverage the threat of tariffs.

 

[Spyerx]

Let's be real here: before tariffs, come negotiations. EVERYTHING is a negotiation. Give take. And if there is a balance of trade and equity, tariffs become less of a concern. The Europeans / EU have not been nice to American companies for some time now. Time for a balance of trade. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[byebye]

You know, in Europe, we pay a 20%+ VAT on top of the MSRP, and there are still customers for new cars… even expensive ones, let alone in France the 60k€ malus on sporty ICE like 911, 718, Macan&Cayenne ICE and so on

 

[tmrqs]

You know, in Europe, we pay a 20%+ VAT on top of the MSRP, and there are still customers for new cars… even expensive ones, let alone in France the 60k€ malus on sporty ICE like 911, 718, Macan&Cayenne ICE and so on

You can’t really use the French 20% VAT in a vacuum, the question here is the impact of tariffs.

(almost) everything in France has that VAT on top so it’s nothing unusual. And France offers health coverage among many “perks” paid in part by the VAT.

A better comparison would be the extreme fees/taxes in Singapore on *any* car and cars being eliminated once they’re 10 years old - forcing people to regularly replace them.

But even that, apples and oranges really…

 

[cometguy]

Even if Trump adds a big tariff on cars imported from Germany (something I could see him doing), if one puts an order in with a deposit prior to that happening (i.e., late January at the earliest), that person should get their German car without the tariff. If Trump added a 25% tariff to my Porsche such that I could not get out of paying it, I would cancel my order for sure.

 

[PanameraFrank]

I'm not sure a world exists where German cars aren't significantly more expensive 6 months from now. Elon Musk will certainly make sure of that. Whether it's through tariffs or other means, prices are going up.

 

[krissrock]

who know when things will happen. But it ain't lookin good

 

[Dragon Tourniquet]

Even if Trump adds a big tariff on cars imported from Germany (something I could see him doing), if one puts an order in with a deposit prior to that happening (i.e., late January at the earliest), that person should get their German car without the tariff. If Trump added a 25% tariff to my Porsche such that I could not get out of paying it, I would cancel my order for sure.

Tariffs are assessed when the item hits US customs, which is at the US port of entry. If Trump puts in new tariffs on 1/20, effective 1/21, then any car that hasn't cleared customs at that point would be subject to it. That's why the Monroney Sticker isn't generated until the car clears customs.

My car is set to arrive in the US late January, and leave the port in the first week of February, so it could get hit with new tariffs. I'm hoping it takes him longer to implement than that. There is hope for because to use the justification of national security or unfair trade practices, the administration will have to show it did the research to show it is required, and why they can get briefings and such in advance of the inauguration, they don't have full access to task departments of government to do the required research. Of course, that depends on the courts upholding the law, which is iffy...

 

[krissrock]

lol research
not gonna be this administration's strong point

 

[alxman]

Tariffs are assessed when the item hits US customs, which is at the US port of entry. If Trump puts in new tariffs on 1/20, effective 1/21, then any car that hasn't cleared customs at that point would be subject to it. That's why the Monroney Sticker isn't generated until the car clears customs.

My car is set to arrive in the US late January, and leave the port in the first week of February, so it could get hit with new tariffs. I'm hoping it takes him longer to implement than that. There is hope for because to use the justification of national security or unfair trade practices, the administration will have to show it did the research to show it is required, and why they can get briefings and such in advance of the inauguration, they don't have full access to task departments of government to do the required research. Of course, that depends on the courts upholding the law, which is iffy...

I’m afraid he is going to not only affect the price of all EVs but also set back the charging infrastructure in the country.

 

[whitex]

Even if Trump adds a big tariff on cars imported from Germany (something I could see him doing), if one puts an order in with a deposit prior to that happening (i.e., late January at the earliest), that person should get their German car without the tariff. If Trump added a 25% tariff to my Porsche such that I could not get out of paying it, I would cancel my order for sure.

Wrong. I ordered a Taycan when it was eligible for $7,500 tax rebate. Biden changed it before I took delivery, my car lo longer qualified for it. I also paid a higher sales tax, and increase kicked-in after my car was already manufactured and in transit. So no, taxes and related things don't apply to when you ordered it, but rather when you picked it up, and tariffs apply based on when the good crossed the border.

 

[KJohn3333]

The current tariff of German cars into the US is 2.5% compared to 10% on American made cars into the EU. As a result of Trump's victory BMW shares fell by 6.6%, Mercedes-Benz by 6.4%, Porsche by 4.9% and Volkswagen by 4.3%. On the flip side Tesla shared surged 13%.