Every since Henry Ford made the tin lizzie or Ford Model T affordable to the general public using assembly line production, America and the world has loved cars. Most of us ever have a car or have access to cars, because they are important to us in our everyday lives. It is not hard to find a group of people with opinions of the best car.

On Liberation Day, President Trump imposed tariffs on automobiles under the assumption that foreign governments would be paying the tariffs. In an article by Eric Atkins of Reuters, according to Michigan based consultancy Anderson Economic Group, tariffs cost automakers in the US $12.5 billion on Canadian and Mexican cars and auto parts in 2025.

The tariffs were broken down to $3.5 billion on parts and $9 billion on finished vehicles. Anh Do, a senior analyst at Anderson said the numbers do not included amounts levied on cars imported from South Korea, Japan and Europe. It also do not include the tariffs on steel and aluminum needed to make car components.

Auto tariffs on cars assembled in Canada and Mexico exceeded $1,600 a vehicle.

Anderson’s report says the cost has been absorbed by manufacturers, suppliers, and company shareholders with a smaller amount borne by car buyers.

GM’s profit fell by 55% to $2.7 billion driven by EV charges and tariffs.

The automakers were up in arms when the tariffs were imposed, but lately they have chosen to be muted in their response partly because the USMAC is up for renewal and they are hoping for better tariff terms in the negotiations.

There are lots of grey areas in the tariff application and the auto industry relies on just-in-time inventory, holdups at the border are expensive and they have every incentive to keep trade moving smoothly.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, each of us is partial to one make or another, and sometimes what you drive, you might want to own stock in the company. As Tesla shows, it is expensive to compete in the auto markets which tends to mean the big two of Ford and GM are worth looking into. Their operations are important to many states which in the past has tended to mean Washington likes to keep its hands off car companies. Times change so do government policies and sometimes your investment thesis.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.