The Center for Automotive Research, one of the leading industry research groups, said that enacting tariffs on automobiles and auto parts imports could cost the United States economy at least 71,000 jobs and potentially as many as 367,000. The report comes as the White House edges closer to unveiling a Commerce Department report on whether the administration should enact tariffs.
“In every scenario considered new vehicle dealership revenue and employment fall,” said the center’s report, issued Friday and titled, “U.S. Consumer & Economic Impacts of U.S. Automotive Trade Policies.” The center said that tariffs would reduce gross domestic product by $6 billion to $30 billion. Dealerships would be particularly hard-hit, losing between $6 billion and $44 billion in revenue.
Consumers would feel the pinch, too. The average price of light-duty vehicles would rise by $2,750 on average.
The center is a nonprofit research group that works in “close collaboration” with automakers, suppliers, industry groups, and labor organizations, among others.
The Commerce Department is expected to deliver a long-awaited report to the White House on Sunday on whether the administration should enact tariffs in order to protect domestic manufacturers. The business community, and trade partners such as Japan and the European Union, have been bracing for the report for months. It is not clear when the details of the report will be made public.
The center noted that much of the industry relies on imported content, the average vehicle produced in the U.S. using between 40 to 50 percent imported parts. Placing tariffs on those would increase costs at pretty much all levels.
“Due to the automotive industry’s reliance on complex cross-border supply chains, any new barriers to trade will have a significant impact on the U.S. automotive industry, consumer prices, and U.S. sales, employment, and economic output,” the center found.
