Business

The tariff block doesn’t affect auto levies, but some carmaker stocks are still rising

Automakers aren’t spared by a federal court’s decision on Wednesday to block a significant chunk of President Trump’s tariffs, but some are seeing stock gains anyway.

The Washington Post reports:

“Trump’s tariffs on specific products such as steel, aluminum and automobiles are not affected and are still in effect. Trump did not use the emergency powers to implement these levies, instead relying on a 1962 trade law. Typically, the commerce secretary or another government official has to investigate whether the imports affect national security under this law, so the process takes longer than using emergency powers.”

Stellantis, Nissan, and Toyota were all trading higher Thursday morning. Given that 25% tariffs on both vehicles and their parts are still on, the boosts are likely on the hopes that tariff easing in any direction will help free up consumer wallets and get them thinking about buying some cars.

Honda was also up more than 3%, while Ford and GM were flat.

Toyota, more specifically, is seeing a bit of a bump as panic buying fueled its second straight record sales month in April. Its US sales climbed 10% on the month.

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Volkswagen is reportedly closing in on its own, separate tariff deal with the US

In a bid to get its own tariff rate below the 15% applied to most EU exports, Volkswagen is dangling big US investments.

Speaking at a trade show Monday, VW CEO Oliver Blume said the automaker is in advanced talks on a deal to limit its own tariff burden. Volkswagen reported a tariff cost of $1.5 billion in the first half of the year.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Blume said the company is in close contact with the Trump administration and has had “good talks” about its separate deal. The current 15% tariff rate on EU vehicles would still “be a burden for Volkswagen,” Blume said.

A company reaching a tariff deal separate from its home country isn’t typical, though there’s already precedent this year, with Apple’s $100 billion US investment deal amid chip tariffs and President Trump’s threats to add a levy to smartphones. Nvidia and AMD similarly struck a deal to receive the ability to sell chips in China and in exchange agreed to give the US 15% of the revenue from those sales.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Blume said the company is in close contact with the Trump administration and has had “good talks” about its separate deal. The current 15% tariff rate on EU vehicles would still “be a burden for Volkswagen,” Blume said.

A company reaching a tariff deal separate from its home country isn’t typical, though there’s already precedent this year, with Apple’s $100 billion US investment deal amid chip tariffs and President Trump’s threats to add a levy to smartphones. Nvidia and AMD similarly struck a deal to receive the ability to sell chips in China and in exchange agreed to give the US 15% of the revenue from those sales.

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