But the new round of tariffs is expected to make cars pricier, especially those assembled in Mexico and Japan. Consumers will pay an extra 9 percent, or $3,010, for cars assembled in Japan, including for some Toyota models, such as the Prius and the 4Runner, said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive. Cars assembled in Mexico will see the highest price hikes — about 10 percent, or $3,550 — Cox said. Those include the Chevrolet Equinox and the Ford Maverick.
In Upstate New York, gear manufacturer Gear Motions began raising prices to offset tariffs earlier this year. Although imports make up just 5 percent of the company’s business, trade uncertainty has complicated just about every part of the firm’s operations, President Dean Burrows said. The company’s gears are used in air compressors, superchargers and car transmissions.
Anxious customers are buying less. And it has gotten harder to sell his U.S.-made products overseas; international inquiries have dried up by about 50 percent, he said, as buyers in other countries look for ways to bypass American manufacturers.
“We’re a 140-year-old company and have survived many ups and downs, but the uncertainty right now is what’s unprecedented,” he said. “We have precision gears on the ocean, coming from Italy and I still don’t know whether I’ll have to pay a 15 percent tariff, or 27.5 percent. But either way, we have no choice: We’ll pay it, and we’ll pass it on.”
Julian Mark contributed to this report.