Automakers are bracing for Trump — and his anti-EV plans

Automakers are readying themselves for a Trump administration 2.0, which is set to feature new tariffs on foreign-made vehicles and a reversal of the current administration’s pro-electric vehicle policies.

President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to scrap the “Green New Scam,” referring to President Joe Biden’s pro-EV policies, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). On his first day in office, Trump plans to begin rolling back rules from the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department, and expand oil drilling.

“And I will end the electric-vehicle mandate on day one,” Trump said during his speech at the Republican National Convention in July, adding that he would save “the U.S. auto industry from complete obliteration.” There is no nationwide U.S. electric-vehicle mandate, but some states, led by California, have implemented their own rules to phase out fossil fuel-powered vehicles.

Although rolling back environmental regulations would give automakers more wiggle room to continue selling gas-powered vehicles, which account for the bulk of many automakers’ revenues, it would rattle their EV plans.

Since the IRA was passed, $81.9 billion has been invested across 161 EV projects, creating 63,337 jobs across the U.S., according to E2. Several companies, including Ford Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co., have adjusted their plans to ensure that their vehicles qualify for the IRA’s $7,500 tax credits for new EV purchases. In just three months, EV buyers saved $600 million thanks to those credits, the Treasury Department said.

ZETA — the Zero Emission Transportation Association — said in a statement that the EV industry is ready to work with “all groups that want to ensure” the U.S. stays competitive. The organization’s membership includes Rivian (RIVN+3.76%), Tesla (TSLA+2.96%), and Lucid (LCID+4.93%), as well as EV charging companies like EVPassport and EVGo (EVGO-8.32%).

“We encourage members of both parties to support policies that provide business and trade certainty so that EV manufacturers up and down the supply chain can unleash the next chapter of American automotive dominance,” ZETA said. “The United States’ global competitiveness depends on it.”

The industry is also keeping an eye out for Trump’s proposed tariffs, which have varied in size and scope. Trump has proposed raising duties on imports from China by as much as 50%, to 60% in total, while adding duties of 10% to 20% against products from the rest of the world. In September, the Biden administration quadrupled the tariff on Chinese-made EVs to 100%.

Read More: A second Trump presidency could mean big changes for EVs. Here’s what to know

Trump has also floated a 2,000% tariff on vehicles made in Mexico, where Chinese automakers have been looking to build factories. Tesla has also been planning a factory in the country, while automakers like Toyota Motor Co. (TM+1.82%) and Stellantis (STLA+0.90%) have already built some vehicles there. In 2023, Mexican factories made 3.3 million vehicles, of which 77% were exported to the U.S.

Honda Motor Co.’s (HMC-0.38%) executive vice president, Shinji Aoyama, said on Wednesday that the automaker imports about 160,000 cars from Mexico to the U.S. each year. “If they were to become subject to tariffs, that would have a big impact,” Aoyama said. “Not just Honda but General Motors (GM+0.69%), Ford, and other Japanese carmakers, too.”

David Christ, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota Division, said on Wednesday that Trump’s tariffs might hit a lot of the parts that make up a vehicle, driving up its cost. Much of that cost tends to be handed down to consumers by businesses unwilling or unable to absorb that increased cost.

Although Trump did impose some tariffs during his first term in office, there are some doubts over whether he’d issue more, given its expected drain on the economy. Some have hypothesized that Trump’s tariff threats are less of an eventuality and more of a negotiating tactic to push companies to invest in the U.S., not in other countries.

In 2017, Ford canceled its plans for a Mexican plant after Trump called for a tax on GM’s Mexican-made Chevrolet Cruzes. South Korean Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo told Reuters on Wednesday that companies from his country would likely invest more in the U.S. if Trump issued his wide-ranging tariffs on imports.

“When Trump talks about tariffs, I interpret them as part of the ‘Art of the Deal,’” said John Boyd, principal of The Boyd Company, a consultancy firm, referring to Trump’s book. “I think they’ll be used strategically, and I think right now that they’re bargaining chips.”