US President Donald Trump is set to announce plans for long-promised tariffs on car imports at a press conference, the White House says.
Officials have given no details on the extent of the expected tariffs, including whether there would be any carve outs for vehicles or parts produced under the umbrella of the US-Canada-Mexico Agreement, the regional trade deal that Trump negotiated during his first term that provides for largely duty-free trade with the two largest US trading partners.
Trump has suggested tariffs could run as high “in the neighbourhood of 25 per cent”.
Trump had said on Monday that tariffs on imported cars could come this week, ahead of plans to unveil next week a swath of reciprocal tariffs aimed at the countries responsible for the bulk of the US trade deficit.
Trump and his economics advisers have promised to announce those levies, and possibly some additional sectoral tariffs, on April 2.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the tariffs would be detailed at a news conference at 4pm on Wednesday (7am AEDT on Thursday).
Leavitt said that she would leave it to the president to flesh out his plans to tax foreign-made cars and parts, which could be complicated as even US car makers source their components from around the world.
Shares of US-listed car makers fell on news of the press conference on concerns tariffs would send shock waves through the global car industry.
Tariffs could drive costs of cars higher for consumers by thousands of dollars, hitting new vehicle sales and resulting in job losses, since the US car industry relies heavily on imported parts, according to the Center for Automotive Research.
The US imported $US474 billion ($A751 billion) worth of vehicle products in 2024, including passenger cars worth $US220 billion.
Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Germany were the biggest suppliers.
Cox Automotive, a car services provider, on Wednesday forecast that if there are no tariff carve outs for the auto industry on imports from Mexico and Canada, $US3000 would be added to the cost of a US-made vehicle and $US6000 on a vehicle made in Canada or Mexico.
with AP
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