Trump says US tariffs on heavy truck imports to begin Nov 1

[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump said that 25 per cent duties on medium- and heavy-duty trucks would begin Nov 1, the latest expansion of his tariff regime aimed at protecting domestic industries.

The proposal has been subject to an intense lobbying campaign by Detroit’s legacy automakers. Trump originally said last month that heavy-duty truck levies would start Oct 1, but that timeline slipped as officials heard appeals from companies concerned about the impact.

“Beginning Nov 1st, 2025, all Medium and Heavy Duty Trucks coming into the United States from other Countries will be Tariffed at the Rate of 25 per cent,” the president posted on Monday (Oct 6), without offering further details.

Trump’s announcement is tied to a probe launched in April by the US Commerce Department into heavy truck imports. That investigation, conducted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, allows for the imposition of import taxes on goods deemed critical to national security.

The probe focused on medium- and heavy-duty trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds (4536 kg) as well as parts, with the Commerce Department stating that a “small number” of foreign suppliers made up the bulk of US imports due to “predatory trade practices”.

The duties threaten an industry already feeling impacts from tariffs on steel and aluminium, as well as tighter environmental regulations. New levies on imports could raise prices on vehicles used in a variety of sectors, including shipping, construction and municipal services.

Stellantis has urged the administration to waive or soften charges that could hit medium-duty Ram pickups the company makes in Mexico, according to sources familiar with the matter. Rivals General Motors and Ford Motor have pushed back on the request, saying it would give Stellantis a cost advantage over US-assembled trucks that contain imported parts already subject to tariffs, the sources said.

But proponents of the move say it will help strengthen domestic manufacturing. Trump, in a social media post last week announcing the tariffs, cast them as necessary to “protect our Great Heavy Truck Manufacturers from unfair outside competition”.

Trump’s planned tariffs on imported heavy trucks “are a huge win for American workers and great US manufacturers”, Nick Iacovella of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a protectionist group, said after Trump’s initial announcement. “This action will strengthen this vital sector and protect it from unfair foreign competition.”

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About 245,000 medium- and heavy-duty trucks were imported to the US last year, a trade flow worth more than US$20 billion, according to Commerce Department data.

The proposal could have wide-ranging impacts on companies, such as Daimler Truck Holding’s Freightliner, Volvo Group’s Mack Trucks and Paccar’s Peterbilt and Kenworth.

International Motors, formerly known as Navistar, is most reliant on imports, with about 98 per cent of its US trucks coming from Mexico, followed by Daimler at about 83 per cent. By contrast, Paccar and Volvo produce nearly all of their US trucks in America.

The new levies are part of a growing slate of industry-specific tariffs Trump is imposing. The administration has already imposed tariffs on imported steel, aluminium, copper, automobiles and auto parts. Additional levies on softwood timber and lumber, kitchen cabinets, vanities and upholstered wood products are set to apply from Oct 14, with some increases kicking in on Jan 1.

And more Section 232 investigations are ongoing into foreign-made solar panels, commercial aircraft, semiconductors, critical minerals, robotics, medical devices and industrial machinery.

The industry-specific tariffs also afford Trump more flexibility as his country-level duties, which he imposed citing a different authority, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, are being challenged in the federal courts. The Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for Nov 5. BLOOMBERG