Auto Renaissance

President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign an executive order easing the impact of his auto tariffs, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

US Auto Renaissance

President Trump plans to ease tariffs on foreign auto parts used in U.S.-made vehicles

Global stocks were steady overnight, with U.S. equity futures marginally higher, as sentiment improved following reports that President Trump plans to ease tariffs on foreign auto parts used in U.S.-made vehicles. The news comes as Trump marks his first 100 days in office, ahead of a rally in Michigan scheduled for this evening.

The Wall Street Journal, citing multiple sources familiar with the plans, reported that the proposed tariff rollback would offer major relief to automakers producing vehicles within the U.S. borders. These companies have been battered by the trade war due to their deeply entrenched supply chains spanning Asia and Europe.

The decision will mean that automakers paying Trump's automotive tariffs won't also be charged for other duties, such as those on steel and aluminum, according to people familiar with the policy. The move would be retroactive, the people said, meaning that automakers could be reimbursed for such tariffs already paid. The 25% tariff on finished foreign-made cars went into effect early this month.

The administration will also modify its tariffs on foreign auto parts—slated to be 25% and effective May 3—allowing automakers to be reimbursed for those tariffs up to an amount equal to 3.75% of the value of a U.S.-made car for one year. The reimbursement would fall to 2.5% of the car's value in a second year, and then be phased out altogether.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told WSJ in a statement about Trump's move to ease the pain for automakers:

President Trump is building an important partnership with both the domestic automakers and our great American workers.This deal will be a major victory for the president's trade policy by rewarding companies who are already manufacturing domestically, while providing a runway to manufacturers who have expressed their commitment in investing in America and expanding domestic manufacturing.

In a separate statement to Bloomberg, Lutnick said:

This deal is a major victory for the president's trade policy by rewarding companies who manufacture domestically while providing runway to manufacturers who have expressed their commitment to invest in America and expand their domestic manufacturing.

Trump's trade war is an urgent move to shift critical supply chains out of China, either by relocating them to a friendlier shore or reshoring them.

Ford CEO Jim Farley commented on the WSJ report:

Ford welcomes and appreciates these decisions by President Trump, which will help mitigate the impact of tariffs on automakers, suppliers and consumers.We will continue to work closely with the administration in support of the president's vision for a healthy and growing auto industry in America. Ford sees policies that encourage exports and ensure affordable supply chains to promote more domestic growth as essential.

This news comes ahead of Trump's trip to Michigan to celebrate the first 100 days of his second term in office. The president will speak at Macomb Community College in Warren, about 20 miles north of Detroit, around 6:00 p.m. local time.

Bessent announces no new trade deals, hints India close

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced no new tariff deals with major trading partners Tuesday but hinted negotiations with India may be close to concluding with one.

“Seventeen are in motion,” Bessent told reporters at the White House, referring to negotiations with trading partners.

When asked if there could be an announcement on India this week, Bessent expressed optimism but wouldn’t commit to a timeline.

“I think that we are very close on India, and India — just a little inside baseball — India, in a funny way, is easier to negotiate with than many countries because they have very high tariffs and lots of tariffs,” Bessent said.

He said talks with Asian trading partners are the closest to leading to a deal because those allies “have been the most forthcoming” with negotiations.

Donald Trump will sign an executive order on auto tariffs today as he tries to cushion the impact of his tariffs on US carmakers.

The Trump administration wants to provide companies looking to relocate to the US full expensing of factories and equipment purchases and make it retroactive to 20 January, treasury secretary Scott Bessent said.
Bessent repeated his assertion that “tariffs are unsustainable for China” and claimed that China could lose up to 10m jobs if the high tariffs remain in place. He said “the onus will be on them” to remove tariffs, despite Trump starting the tariff war, and also would not say whether the US and China were talking directly to negotiate a deal.
Bessent added that he does not anticipate supply chain shocks from Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

The First 100 Days

Three bar graphs show private sector job growth by month, federal job reductions, and manufacturing job gains/losses. Blue and red bars. — US Bureau of labor Statistics Reports on Job Gains and Losses

Upon taking office, President Trump immediately blocked all unfinalized Biden-era rules, saving Americans over $180 billion — $2,100 per family of four over the next decade — and launched a bold, multi-agency effort to roll back existing federal regulations that drive up the cost of living. This effort is projected to yield significant cost savings in the coming months, including the EPA’s rollback of tailpipe emission rules for light-duty and medium-duty vehicles ($667 billion in total savings) and the Department of Transportation’s latest Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards ($88 billion in savings). These two efforts alone yield $755 billion in total savings or over $8,800 per family of four over the next decade. The combined savings from all of these actions equal just over $935 billion or nearly $11,000 per family of four over the coming decade.

The Trump Administration has implemented an aggressive 10-to-1 deregulatory initiative, which requires that whenever an agency proposes a new rule or guidance document, it must eliminate 10 existing rules or guidance documents. This effort builds on the successful deregulatory initiative introduced in President Trump’s first term, which required the repeal of at least two existing regulations for each new rule, and in practice eliminated 5.5 rules for each new significant rule.

To date, President Trump has issued over 20 significant deregulatory presidential actions (i.e., executive orders, presidential memoranda, and presidential proclamations).

Download the full report from the White House: