(BFM Stock Exchange) – The securities of manufacturers and carmenters are suffering this on Thursday on the stock market, after Donald Trump’s decision to impose customs from vehicles and spare parts produced outside the United States.

Less than a week before the entry into force of reciprocal customs duties, Donald Trump wants to make an impression. The American president announced, Wednesday, March 26, the establishment of customs surcharge of 25% on vehicles and spare parts produced outside the United States.

“What we are going to do is impose customs duties of 25% on all cars that are not made in the United States,” said Donald Trump on Wednesday, calling this measure as “very modest”. These surcharges will be applicable on April 2, and he said that the United States would begin to perceive it a day later.

Regarding most of the spare parts imported into the United States, they will be taxed at the latest by Saturday, May 3.

A shock for the automotive industry

The secretary general of the White House Will Scharf adds that these surcharges should result in a new annual income of $ 100 billion for the United States, reports Bloomberg.

“It is a brutal shock for profits, in particular for equipment manufacturers who depend on imports and for manufacturers. It is not a symbolic measure, but a substantial modification of the cost structure of the American automotive industry,” said Bernstein.

On the stock market, the automotive sector logically accuses it. Asian manufacturers have undergone significant releases after this decision. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Toyota sold more than 2%, Mitsubishi 3.20%, Honda 2.47%and Nissan 1.67%. In Seoul, Hyundai returned 4.5%.

In Paris, Stellantis dropped 4.9% while Renault, only indirectly present on the American market via Nissan, manages to limit its withdrawal to 1%. It is especially in Frankfurt, which has a large number of companies in the sector, that the withdrawals are the most marked. Porsche dropped by 4.6%, Volkswagen dropped by 3%, BMW by 4.1%and Mercedes-Benz by 4.7%.

In pre-bond in Wall Street, General Motors drops by 7%, Ford stumbles by almost 4%.

Even Tesla, which gives in 1% in the exchange exchange, will not be spared by these surcharges. Its leader Elon Musk spoke of a “significant” effect on the cost of production of Tesla and therefore on the sale price to the general public.

This decision therefore made the effect of a bomb. Especially since the American manufacturers (as well as the European groups present in the United States) import a large part of their volumes marketed out of the American soil.

“Recall that around 50% of vehicles sold in the United States are imported, around 8 million vehicles (mainly from Mexico, Canada, Europe or Japan and Korea). Beyond, out of the 50% already assembled in the United States, local content (i.e. customs duties) is estimated at only 40-50%”, details Oddo BHF.

An inflationary risk

The design office points to the inflationary risk induced by the introduction of customs surcharges on the import of vehicles and spare parts in the United States. “In the short term, the price of vehicles sold in the United States should significantly increase since supply chain (logistics channels) can very little in the short/medium term (and it will be structurally expensive), while no actor will be able to absorb this shock today and in particular not the equipment manufacturers,” argue ODDO BHF analysts.

Bernstein is the impact of these customs duties to around $ 110 billion across the sector, or about $ 6,700 per vehicle.

Due to lower profitability, the impact of these surcharges on profits “should be the most important for Volvo Cars, followed by BMW and Mercedes,” said Stifel.

On the Europe part, the most exposed values ​​of the world of ODDO BHF coverage are Porsche (100%of its sales imported from Europe), and to a lesser extent Volkswagen (36%), BMW (37%) and Wednesday-Benz Group (52%), “with customs duties much higher than the sensitivities provided during annual results”.

On the side of equipment manufacturers, the sector suffers on the stock market, or even more than car manufacturers. In Paris, Forvia plunges 10.4%, Valeo gave way 9.9%and Opthobility fell 8%.

Cited by Reuters, a spokesperson from Valeo said that the automotive supplier will not be able to absorb customs duties of 25% on auto imports to the United States announced by US President Donald Trump and will have to increase its prices accordingly.

Donald Trump’s unpredictability on customs duties therefore comes even more to deconancy the markets. At the start of the week, the clues had rebounded in the hope that the American president opted for a much less hard line on the commercial aspect. However, this last round of the car in the automotive sector comes back to the markets to reality.