On May 1, 2025, General Motors CEO Mary Barra thanked President Donald Trump for supporting the U.S. auto industry in a shareholder letter that also forecast $4 billion to $5 billion in tariff exposure for the full year. That was an estimate—not a $5 billion bill GM had already paid. GM paired it with 2025 adjusted earnings guidance of $10 billion to $12.5 billion.
What GM said about Trump and tariffs
Barra opened GM’s May 1, 2025 shareholder letter by writing, “We are also grateful to President Trump for his support of the U.S. automotive industry.” In the same letter, GM said its updated full-year 2025 adjusted EBIT guidance was $10 billion to $12.5 billion, including an estimated $4 billion to $5 billion in current tariff exposure. GM’s May 1, 2025 shareholder letter and results
The letter did not present the tariff estimate as a settled final cost. GM said it would continue discussions with the administration and key trade partners as policies evolved. It also cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees and actual results could differ materially; expected financial results did not include potential effects of future adjustments related to special items.
Was the $5 billion already incurred?
No. The $4 billion to $5 billion figure was GM’s estimate of gross tariff exposure over the full 2025 year, not money already spent by the time the letter was published. It also was not a forecast of an equivalent increase in car prices: company-level exposure does not establish how costs would be divided among GM, suppliers, dealers, and buyers.
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Reuters reported in May 2025 that GM’s guidance assumed it could offset at least 30% of tariff costs. The reported approaches included seeking more U.S. supplier content to improve compliance with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), increasing U.S.-made battery-module production, and reviewing discretionary spending. Reuters also reported that roughly $2 billion of the projected exposure was associated with vehicles imported from South Korea—a contemporaneous breakdown, not a standing figure for later years. Reuters’ May 1, 2025 report on GM’s guidance
What happened after the forecast
The estimate should be kept separate from subsequent reported results. The Associated Press reported that tariffs reduced GM’s second-quarter 2025 results by $1.1 billion. At that point, GM still projected a gross tariff impact of $4 billion to $5 billion for all of 2025 and described mitigation through manufacturing changes, targeted cost measures, and pricing. The quarterly impact was a realized period result; the annual range remained a forecast. Associated Press report on GM’s second-quarter 2025 results
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How GM’s outlook changed by April 2026
The 2025 range is not GM’s current tariff outlook. On April 28, 2026, the Associated Press reported that GM expected tariff costs of $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion for 2026, lower than its previous $3 billion to $4 billion estimate. The AP also reported that GM expected a $500 million refund related to certain tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), after the Supreme Court struck those levies down. GM had not received the expected refund at the time of that report.
That expected refund concerned a specific set of IEEPA tariffs; it did not mean all tariffs had ended. The AP reported that other duties remained, including sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, and cars. These later figures reflect a changed policy and forecast context and should not be substituted for the May 2025 estimate. Associated Press report dated April 28, 2026
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Why the thank-you drew attention
The juxtaposition was striking: Barra publicly thanked Trump for supporting the U.S. auto industry while GM disclosed billions of dollars in expected tariff exposure. The Verge characterized the messaging as a balancing act between acknowledging the administration and reassuring investors amid unsettled trade policy. That is the publication’s interpretation, not a motive GM stated in its letter. The Verge’s May 1, 2025 coverage
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