The 25% tariff on cars not made in the United States took effect on April 3, 2025, but it does not hit every foreign-built vehicle at that rate. Proclamation 10908 applies an additional 25% duty to specified automobiles and parts, and what a given car pays now depends on where it was built, whether it qualifies under the USMCA, and which country-specific order covers it. The rules below reflect official documents available as of October 8, 2026. The rate for EU-built cars is the one part of the picture those documents do not settle.
When the tariff started and what it covers
On March 26, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Proclamation 10908 under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. In his signing remarks that day he said: “What we’re going to be doing is a 25-percent tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States.” The proclamation is narrower than that sentence. It imposes an additional 25% ad valorem tariff on articles listed in its annexes. For automobiles, the duty applies to vehicles entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on April 3, 2025. Automobile parts were set to begin on a later date specified in a Federal Register notice, and no later than May 3, 2025.
The additional duty is charged on top of other duties unless an exception or later modification applies. The same signing remarks said a car built in the United States would not face the tariff.
Why the slogan overstates the rule
- Scope is product-based. The tariff covers specified automobiles and parts, not every good that crosses the border.
- Origin can change the rate. Orders for Japan and the United Kingdom replaced the general treatment with country-specific rules.
- Trade-agreement vehicles follow a content-based process. USMCA-qualifying vehicles from Canada and Mexico are not exempt, but the tariff can be assessed only on their non-U.S. content.
- The parts offset is not an exemption. Manufacturers that assemble vehicles in the United States can receive an offset against their parts tariff liability, but it does not exempt every imported vehicle.
Canada and Mexico: the USMCA content process
A vehicle that qualifies for preferential treatment under the USMCA does not receive a blanket exemption from the auto tariff. A Federal Register notice instead sets out a procedure under which the additional 25% is assessed only on the value of non-U.S. content.
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How the process works
- Confirm that the vehicle qualifies for preferential USMCA tariff treatment. The procedure covers qualifying automobiles imported from Canada and Mexico. Vehicles from those countries that do not qualify are not eligible for this treatment under the notice.
- Have the importer submit documentation identifying the vehicle’s U.S. content.
- After approval, the additional 25% is assessed exclusively on the non-U.S. content value.
Illustration only: if 60% of a vehicle’s value is non-U.S. content, the 25% additional duty applies to that 60%, which equals 15% of the vehicle’s total value. The notice sets out the documentation and approval requirements, so check them before entry.
Japan and the United Kingdom: country-specific orders
Both orders modify the general Proclamation 10908 treatment, but they work differently. The Japan order sets a combined-rate ceiling, while the UK order sets a quota. The figures below are labeled as additional or combined, because the two are not interchangeable.
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| Item | Japan | United Kingdom |
|---|---|---|
| Implementing order | September 2025 | June 2025 |
| How the rate is set | Additional Section 232 rate set so that the Column 1 rate plus the additional rate equals 15%, where Column 1 is below 15% | 7.5% additional tariff on top of the 2.5% most-favored-nation rate, for a 10% combined rate |
| Where Column 1 is 15% or higher | Additional Section 232 rate is zero | Not applicable |
| Annual quota | Not stated in the Japan order | 100,000 automobiles per year, within quota |
| Vehicles beyond quota | Not applicable | Full Proclamation 10908 duties |
| Effectiveness | Tied to a specified Federal Register notice; confirm timing before a specific entry | Not stated in the UK order |
Column 1 means the general duty rate in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. For a Japanese car with a 2.5% Column 1 rate, the additional rate is 12.5%, bringing the combined duty to 15%. The UK’s 10% applies only within quota. Beyond the quota, the full Proclamation 10908 duties apply, which for a car with the 2.5% most-favored-nation rate works out to 27.5% combined.
European Union and other origins: what is not confirmed
Press reports have described a planned increase for cars from the European Union starting in May 2026. The official documents available as of October 8, 2026 do not establish an implementing action or the resulting rate, so those reports should not be read as the current EU rate. The same limit applies to a complete country-by-country table. The arrangements above are the ones confirmed by official documents, and other origins need to be checked individually against the current White House and Federal Register actions.
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The parts offset for U.S.-assembled vehicles
Proclamation 10925 created an import adjustment offset for a manufacturer’s qualifying parts tariff liability. It is calculated as a share of aggregate MSRP for vehicles assembled in the United States:
| Assembly period | Offset (% of aggregate MSRP) |
|---|---|
| April 3, 2025 through April 30, 2026 | 3.75% |
| May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027 | 2.5% |
The offset is subject to eligibility and caps. It applies against a manufacturer’s auto-parts tariff liability, so it is not a rebate to buyers and not an exemption on every imported vehicle.
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Figures in the White House fact sheet
The White House fact sheet dated April 29, 2025 included the following administration figures. They are the administration’s own estimates, presented in that document, and are not independently verified measurements of 2026 conditions.
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- About 16 million cars, SUVs and light trucks were bought by Americans in 2024, and 50% of them (8 million) were imports (The White House, 2025).
- The White House estimated the average domestic content of the 8 million vehicles assembled in the United States at a conservative 50%, and said the figure was likely closer to 40% (The White House, 2025).
- It said only 25% of the vehicle content bought by Americans could be categorized as Made in America (The White House, 2025).
- It reported a U.S. trade deficit in automobile parts of $93.5 billion in 2024 (The White House, 2025).
How to check a specific vehicle
- Establish the country of origin from the entry paperwork, not from the brand name.
- If the vehicle is from Canada or Mexico, check whether it qualifies for preferential USMCA treatment. If it does, the content-based process in the Federal Register notice applies.
- Identify the order or notice that covers the origin and its effective date. Japan’s timing depends on a specified Federal Register notice.
- Find the Column 1 general duty rate in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, and label each figure as additional or combined before comparing.
- For UK-origin cars, confirm whether the 100,000-vehicle annual quota still has room.
- Confirm the final rate with your importer or customs broker before shipping, because these rates have changed and may change again.
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