Even if you are not on the market for a new car, US President Donald Trump25% prices on automotive importscould make possession a more expensive.
The new taxes, which should start on April 3 and develop in the following weeks, should increase the average cost of a car imported from another countryby thousands of dollars. But repairs for vehicles that currently use parts made abroad should also become more expensive – and therefore, hiking insurance costs further on the road.
While the White House claims that these prices will promote national manufacturing and will increase $ 100 billion in income per year,Stress economistsThe fact that the fight against the global supply chain of the automotive industry leads to significant disruption. Dealers and car repair workshops will probably have no choice but to increase prices – drivers across the country to pay more for daily maintenance.
Here’s what you need to know.
How will the prices affect my next car repair?
It depends on what you need and where you are going to have your car maintain. But some industry analysts warn that drivers may see costs jump from the coming weeks or months.
“If you bring your car to be repaired, there is a good chance that it will have a part that comes from another country,” said Jessica Caldwell, responsible for the ideas for the automatic purchase resource Edmunds. “This price you pay will probably be directly affected by the increase (from these prices).”
Trump WednesdayProclamation on car ratesPoints specifically for engines, transmissions, parts of the powertrain and electrical components. This covers many repairs as it is, Caldwell notes, and the administration has also pointed out the possibility of future expansion.
And although car manufacturers can develop new price strategies for new vehicles affected by prices, Caldwell expects that they are less likely to absorb the costs of individual parts – leaving consumers with the invoice may be more imminent.
A large part of the car repair market has strongly supported imports, in particular the largest American trade partners. According to the February numbers of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, a commercial group which represents insurers at home, automotive and companies, around 6 in 10 automotive replacement used in American automotive workshop repairs are imported from Mexico, Canada and China.
“You cannot enter a dealer today and not see any United Nations of parts,” said Skyler Chadwick, director of the product council at Cox Automotive. But supply and supply vary between each service, he adds, which makes it all the more complex to nail the prices that prices will increase after these prices take effect.
Desiree Hill, owner of Crown’s Corner, a repair shop and automotive mechanics in Conyers, in Georgia, says that the car rates already injured his business. She worked on the repair of an Opel Rekord Vintage car from 1960 and ordered a part in Germany, but the manufacturer canceled the order due to the prices.
“I can’t get (the room) anywhere in our country. Period. So it was very disappointing, ”she said.
About half of the cars on which she works are made abroad, so the prices will make the repair of these cars more difficult.
“Unfortunately, we have no choice but to increase prices if they are raised about us,” she said. “We cannot take this kind of loss.”
The prices for repairing cars have been up for years, analysts pointing both with increasing labor costs and more expensive components necessary for vehicles with advanced technology.
Edward Salamy, Executive Director of the Automotive Body Parts Association, also says that car companies have tried to “win a monopoly” to limit remedies to their own parts or processes, by reducing options for consumers.
The prices, he said, will only make the problem are: “Many of these distributors will have no choice but to increase their list price.”
How do automobile dealers manage?
Joshua Allrich, who operates a family -owned family dealer called Allrich Auto in Atlanta, is one of the people who are anxious to deal with higher costs while trying to save money from his customers.
“It will make things much more expensive,” said Allarch, adding that, although he is impatiently waiting for the possibility that people rush to buy cars before prices take effect, his business will soon have to adapt. “My wheelhouse is economic cars, affordable cars. And now this price will hit us directly because it will get things up. ”
Chadwick says that dealers and other agents should be as transparent as possible that these prices take effect while preparing to have difficult conversations on the rise in prices with customers.
He adds that prices will also be pressured on the resale market. Used cars must often be maintained before dealers can sell them to customers – opening the door again at higher repair costs due to prices. And “all this cost goes back to the consumer” through what they end up having to pay for the vehicle, he explains.
In efforts to delay the impacts, certain dealers and repair workshops could turn to storage on stocks before the prices affect, in particular for the most requested parts. Analysts say that many have been waiting for the threat of car prices so much and are already struggling with the impact of Trump’s newSteel and aluminum surveysThis came into force earlier this month.
But storage can only go so far. And for owners of small businesses, spending money on many inventory can be risky, especially when TrumpPrice threats on and off-dateLift the questions on the duration of their duration.
If they end up being short-lived, Caldwell said: “Do you want to buy a pile of inventory that you will have to sit down and hold (to) for a while?”
What will happen to my insurance premiums?
Since accidents involving new parts will see increased costs for repairs, insurance premiums will also increase due to prices.
But it can be more distant in the future. Bob Passmore, Vice-President of the Personal Lines Department of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association Association, expects consumers to see an impact on their insurance bill in at least 12 to 18 months. Indeed, increased prices must reach the costs of complaints, then be implemented after the filing and approval of new prices.
However, the professional association considered that personal costs on car insurance complaints alone could increase between $ 7 and $ 24 billion per year.
It was not immediately clear how large automotive insurance suppliers were preparing for the impacts of these prices. AllstateState Farm, Geico and Progressive did not immediately respond to requests for comments from the Associated Press on Friday.
But even if it takes a long time to take place, these increases linked to prices would arrive again because consumers have already faced the increase in insurance costs. The Institute Institute estimated that medium -sized American automotive bonuses increased by 14% in 2023 and 12% in 2024.
Mark Friedlander, Senior Director of Relations with the Institute’s media, said by e -mail that the non -profit research trade had planned an average increase of 7% of the automotive insurance premium in 2025 at the start of the year – but that will not take into account potential tariff impacts, which will make them even higher.
The increase in costs extending on prices leads to a “chain reaction for insurance”, adds Caldwell. “This is a total increase in property costs, rather than a simple increase in purchase.”
This story was initially presented on Fortune.com
