U.S. President Donald Trump on the 17th (local time) signed a proclamation imposing a 25% tariff on medium- and heavy-duty trucks and their parts imported into the United States starting on the 1st of next month.
A heavy-duty truck refers to a truck with a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds (11,800 kilograms) or more. A medium-duty truck is larger than 10,000 pounds (about 5,536 kilograms) but smaller than 26,001 pounds. Parts subject to the tariff include engines, engine parts, transmissions, powertrains, and electronic components.
The United States has been imposing a 25% tariff on small and medium trucks and passenger cars since Apr.
Earlier, the European Union (EU) and Japan, through trade talks with the U.S. administration, reduced the automobile tariff from 25% to 15%. Even so, the 25% tariff rate on medium- and heavy-duty trucks appears likely to remain in place.
At a briefing by a U.S. administration official that day, when reporters asked, "Will a lower tariff rate apply to the EU and Japan?" the official said, "If we have agreed with a trading partner to apply a tariff rate different from the 25% in the proclamation, then when vehicles or parts are imported from that trading partner, that tariff rate applies."