- Every single EV for sale in the U.S. will be impacted by tariffs.
- Not even the most American-made EVs are completely made in America.
- About half of all EVs have 10% or fewer components sourced from the U.S. and Canada.
It turns out “Made in America” means a lot less when you pop the hood (or frunk) of your new car. With Trump’s new 25% auto tariffs setting in this morning like a regulatory bulldozer, the whole EV market—we’re talking cars assembled in China to Hyundais assembled in Georgia—is suddenly staring at more expensive production costs and potentially higher prices.
It turns out that every electric car on sale in America is going to be affected by tariffs. Every single one. And it’s because no car (not even the ones assembled by the most red-white-and-blue-branded brands) is truly “Made in America” anymore.
Photo by: Mercedes-Benz
You might be wondering how that’s even possible. After all, there are a ton of EVs built right here in the states—and that’s true. However, it’s important to remember that cars are a global trade. Gone are the days when automakers can afford to trust just one vendor (let alone one country) to produce all of the parts needed for their cars. So while a car’s final assembly might be in the U.S., its parts could be sourced from abroad. And under the new tariff plan, that’s a problem.
Let’s take a look at the data filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Specifically, the American Automobile Labeling Act (AALA), which lists the concentration of parts in any given vehicle by the country of origin.
This helps buyers to understand where their car was assembled, as well as how much of their cars came from the U.S. and Canada (which is tracked as a single figure), versus China, Germany and other countries with competing auto markets.
Final Assembly
Photo by: Hyundai
One of the easiest ways to tell whether or not a car will be subject to import tariffs is its final assembly location. The good news is that the data from the AALA makes that very easy to understand.
The bad news? Well, of the 67 BEVs listed on the NHTSA’s dataset currently for sale in the U.S., only 28 are assembled domestically.
A few others are still assembled in North America, meaning that they could be exempted under the USMCA until at least May 3rd. Whether or not the Trump administration extends that is up in the air at this point. Five vehicles—the Cadillac Optiq, Chevrolet Blazer EV and Equinox EV, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Honda Prologue—are built in Mexico. Then there’s the lone Canadian import: the Dodge Charger Daytona.
The remaining 34 EVs undergo final assembly in countries like Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam before being imported into the U.S. for sale.
Parts Content
Photo by: Patrick George
To be clear, these new tariffs don’t just apply to vehicles based on a final assembly location. For cars assembled in the U.S., the tariffs also apply to auto parts which means that components imported for manufacturing will also undergo a cost hike.
About half—33 in total—have less than 10% of parts derived from the U.S. and Canada. The following vehicles are even listed as having 0% parts content derived from the U.S. and Canada: the BMW i4, Hyundai’s Ioniq 6 and Kona EV, Jaguar I-Pace, Kia EV6, Lexus RZ, Mercedes-Benz’s EQB, EQE, EQS, and G-Class, Nissan Ariya, Porsche’s Macan EV and Taytcan, Subaru Solterra, Toyota bZ4X and Volvo’s C40 and Volvo XC40 Recharge.
Inversely, the cars with the highest U.S. and Canada parts content are the Tesla Model 3 with 75%, Tesla Model Y and Volkswagen ID.4 with 70%, plus the Tesla Cybertruck and Model S with 65%. Every other vehicle on the list is at 62% or below.
It’s important to point out that the NHTSA data does not include some EVs currently on U.S. roads. GM couldn’t provide us with the data for the Cadillac Lyriq, Optiq, and Vistiq.
Likewise, Rivian did not have this data available. Faraday Future, Lucid Motors, Maserati and VinFast did not respond to our request for this information at the time of writing.
What Happens Next?
Photo by: InsideEVs
The biggest question on just about everybody’s mind is: “How does this affect me?” The most obvious way is if you’re a new car buyer. New vehicle prices are expected to slingshot upwards thanks to these tariffs. While nobody—not even automakers—knows how much the weave of duty fees will cause the bottom line to rise, the general consensus is that it won’t be a negligible amount.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley predict that new car prices could increase between 11% and 12%, even if the car is produced domestically. The Anderson Economic Group predicts that vehicle costs could rise anywhere from $2,500 to more than $20,000 with large SUVs, luxury marques, and sports cars bearing the brunt of the higher end.
All of this could lead to a contraction of the new car market by 15% if automakers just break even on tariffs, or as much as 20% if all tariff-related costs are passed on to consumers, according to an analyst from Bank of America.
Worse, there’s no clear escape even if you’re not a new car buyer. The expected loss per household is expected to be between $450 and $500 at the very lowest income bracket in the U.S., thanks to the domino effect that vehicle prices have on the rest of the economy. That could come from an increased cost of goods and services related to transportation or even higher insurance costs due to increased vehicle part prices.
Automakers can work to reduce their costs, too. But the problem is that you can’t retool an entire production line or revamp a supply chain overnight. Heck, we watched this happen before with Covid-era production shortages and we all saw how well that went.
The Full List
Photo by: BYD
