American car giant Ford Motor Company has lost $1 billion as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on aluminum and steel. As Reuters reports, company CEO James Hackett said Wednesday at a Bloomberg business forum that tariffs are hitting the auto industry in a large way.
“From Ford’s perspective, the metal tariffs took about $1 billion in profit from us,” Hackett told the audience. “The irony of which is — we source most of that in the U.S. today anyway. If it goes on any longer, it will do more damage.” He did not say whether the loss was for the current year.
President Donald Trump imposed the duties in an attempt to bolster the U.S. aluminum and steel industry but the decision has not proven popular with many Republican legislators who believe the tariffs are counter-productive.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman and Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch on Wednesday criticized both the aluminum and steel tariffs and a proposed automobile and auto parts tariff of 25 percent.
“Our trade policy should strengthen our relationship with our allies while targeting China’s most harmful trade practices,” Hatch said. “Tariffs on autos and auto parts are not going to help us achieve any of these things.”
The proposed tariff could raise the cost of cars from $6,000 to $7,000 more.
The executive vice president of Honda North America told the finance committee that his company is also losing money to the aluminum and steel tariffs. Rick Schostek said the cost has been in the “hundreds of millions of dollars.”