The best time to buy a vehicle if you're in the market for one may be sooner than expected.
Last week, President Donald Trump announced that he would be imposing 25% tariffs on “all cars that are not made in the United States.” The new tariffs were codified in a presidential proclamation that Trump signed in the Oval Office and they are expected to go into effect Wednesday, April 2.
The tariffs will not apply to any cars that are built in the U.S. Trump White House aide Will Scharf said the new tariffs apply to “foreign-made cars and light trucks.” According to Scharf, the tariffs will result in “over $100 billion of new annual revenue” to the country.
Jerry Reynolds, host of "The Car Pro Show" on KTRH, expects prices to go up soon after the tariffs take effect.
"The inventory that is on the ground now and what has already been shipped, those cars will not be affected, but after that, prices are going to go up no matter where the car is made," Reynolds explained.
If prices are going to be raised on cars made outside of the U.S. then it's likely that prices will go up on cars made inside the U.S. to offset that. Consumers looking for a new car may want to consider finding one sooner rather than later.
"If somebody's in the market or they know they're going to be in the next six months, go and pull that schedule ahead and do something in the next 30 days," said Reynolds.
There's no need to do a "panic trade" either.
"Unless you're already in the market because if you are, you need to take advantage of the incentives that are there right now," Reynolds added.
Car manufacturers like Land Rover and Jaguar don't build cars at all in the U.S. The tariffs will affect brands like them and Mazda too. Toyota and Honda are both producing more than 50% of their vehicles here.
Reynolds believes automakers will look at ways to cut costs, including in incentives.
"The incentives are really good right now and they all end on Tuesday," he said. "I suspect we'll see those go down in anticipation of what's going to take place on Wednesday."
President Trump's tariffs with neighboring Canada and Mexico have been a weekly topic of discussion ever since he took office a little over two months ago.