(Reuters) -The global values of the automotive sector fell on the stock market Thursday after the announcement the day before by Donald Trump the establishment of customs duties of 25% on imports of cars and spare parts in the United States.
In Europe, car manufacturers and spare parts suppliers for the sector fell sharply at the opening.
The automotive sector abandoned 2.7% at 08:40 gmt and touched a lower since December, while Forvia, Stellantis and Valeo ceded between 4.7% and 5.9%.
In Germany, BMW, Porsche AG, Daimler Truck, Continental and Volkswagen lose between 1.4% and 3.4%.
In Asia, Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and Hyundai Motor all dropped from 3% to 4%.
At Wall Street, American car manufacturers retreated in electronic exchanges after the fence, General Motors losing 8% against 4.5% for Ford.
Tesla, who builds on the spot all her cars sold in the United States but imports certain spare parts, abandoned 1.3% despite the comments of Donald Trump, who assured Wednesday that the impact of customs duties on the group would be neutral.
If these customs duties are maintained, the price of a car could progress by several thousand dollars, resulting in a drop in sales of new vehicles and layoffs due to the high dependence of the American automotive industry with imported parts, according to the center for car research (CAR).
GlobalData also calculates that almost half of the cars sold last year in the United States had been imported.
The United States imported $ 474 billion in car products in 2024, including $ 220 billion in cars, mainly from Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Germany.
Autos Drive America, a group representing the main foreign car manufacturers including Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and Volkswagen, said that “the customs duties imposed today will make the production and sale of cars in the United States, which will be translated by higher prices, less choice for consumers and less jobs in the manufacturer in the United States.”
“Companies that have invested billions of dollars in factories in Canada and Mexico will probably see their profits dramatically decrease in the next quarters, or even the next two years,” said Sam Fiorani, analyst at Autoforecast Solutions.
“We are going to adjust our turnover and production forecasts, because these customs duties will question everything.”
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which represents the workers of the three major Detroit car manufacturers, praised Donald Trump’s announcements.
“Thanks to these customs rights, thousands of well-paid workers’ jobs in the automotive industry could be repatriated to the United States in a few months,” UAW president Shawn Fain said in a statement.
(Written by Nora Eckert and Kalea Hall in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington, with Surbhi Misra, Corentin Chappron, edited by Blandine Hénault and Kate Entringer)
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