New Auto Tariffs Effective April 3

President Trump’s newest wave of tariffs is scheduled to go into effect this week. After granting a temporary reprieve to the auto industry last month, the U.S. is set to enforce additional tariffs on all auto-related imports beginning on Thursday. The annex to the Section 232 auto tariff proclamation listing all subheadings subject to the tariffs can be found here.

Under the new tariffs, all automobile imports will be subject to an additional 25% beginning on April 3, 2025. Auto parts will also be subject to additional tariffs of 25% beginning no later than May 3, 2025. The exact date of the tariffs on auto parts will be published in a forthcoming Federal Register notice once U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has had adequate time to establish a process to apply the tariff only to non-US-originating content of the automobile parts. 

We understand the situation is fluid and we will continue to gather information and provide updates as they become available. As of now, please be aware of the following key points related to the rollout of these new tariffs: 

• These tariffs fall under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act and are in addition to any existing tariffs on automotive imports. 

• There will be a USMCA provision allowing importers to declare only the non-U.S. content used to manufacture the automobile and only those parts will be subject to the tariff, rather than the entire value of the car. 

• CBP will strictly monitor any claims regarding non-U.S. content and if they deem the declaration is inaccurate due to overstating the amount of U.S. content, they will enforce the 25% tariff on the entire value of the automobile, regardless of the amount of U.S.-originating content.  

• Additionally, CBP will retroactively and prospectively apply the tariff to the full value of all automobiles of the same model imported by the same importer if they determine the declaration is inaccurate. 

• All cars and auto parts that enter a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) except those that are eligible under “domestic status” must enter as “privileged foreign status.” 

• As with the other tariffs implemented so far this year, there will be no duty drawback eligibility and limited FTZ permissions on goods that fall under the scope of the tariffs. 

For more information, please read the full White House proclamation. If you have questions about how these new tariffs will impact your duty payments, please reach out to your Scarbrough representative directly for further assistance.