TRANSCRIPT:
"This is very modest, what we're going to be doing is a 25 per cent tariff on all cars not made in the United States."
That's U-S President, Donald Trump, announcing a new round of tariffs, this time for the car industry.
From April 2, that fee will be payable on top of any foreign vehicle that enters the U-S.
Allrich Auto owner Josh Allrich in Atlanta says he's concerned because the tariffs will raise the cost of new cars by 15 thousand dollars.
"It's already expensive out here, and now that he's adding this tariff it's going to make things a lot more expensive. My wheelhouse is economy cars, affordable cars, and now, this tariff is going to directly hit us because it's gonna just make things go up. So I haven't heard anything just yet, but I am looking forward to people now rushing in to buy some cars."
That is what Loretta Acosta is doing.
She is looking for a new car at a dealership in Michigan, before the tariffs are brought in.
Ms Acosta says she trusts the President has made a decision that benefits Americans.
"It feels like the end game is bringing industry back to America. So I mean, that is great for jobs. And it certainly would be good for investment, especially capital investment if you are a venture capitalist, so I think it would be good, but there are pros and cons to everything, of course."
Mr Allrich agrees with that perspective, despite the impact on his own business.
"My grandfather worked for Ford for about 25 years, and he was originally from Haiti. He was really able to build a career just based off being at Ford all those years. He was able to retire and leave his family with a whole lot, so I understand. Trump really wanted to kind of bring a lot of jobs back to the states, especially kind of labour jobs you know with these different car companies."
Marco Simoni is an economist with Luiss University in Rome.
He has a different perspective, that the U-S economy - and its people - will suffer.
“The new tariffs introduced by President Trump will have an impact on the European car industry and will have a strong impact on American consumers because the prices of their cars is going to go up. And of course European carmakers are going to look into other geographies and perhaps also selling more cars within Europe.”
American economists also say the tariffs will hurt U-S car manufacturers.
Economist Professor Tibor Besedes at the Georgia Institute of Technology has concerns over the investment that can be made in the industry if tariffs are removed by another U-S administration in four years.
And he says some American businesses may have major production issues when the tariffs on automobile parts come into play in May.
"There are very few supply chains in cars that are completely within the United States. Many supply chains in the car industry are within the NAFTA, USMCA countries like Canada, Mexico, United States for parts and unfinished cars travel across borders multiple times before they finally produced and assembled either in any of those three countries."
Roberto Valvassori is the President of the Italian Association of Automotive Industry.
He is confident the luxury European car market would be less sensitive to price rises.
"So if you have the desire to drive Italian prestigious cars it prevails on costs. In fact it can make even more of a difference than a regular car. The consumer will be willing to pay this extra levy."
But worries remain over the diplomatic implications of the fees.
Hildegard Mueller is head of Verbrand der Automobilindustrie, the industry body in Germany, which is Europe's biggest car exporter.
"This will have significant consequences for growth, employment, prosperity and jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. The U.S. economy and U.S. consumers will also suffer from the fact that the U.S. wants to withdraw from the international trade partnership."
There are similar sentiments across Asia.
After embracing the return of a once staunch ally with major investments in the U-S, Japan’s car makers now find themselves on the front line of a burgeoning global trade war.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has described his country as the number one investor to the U-S and says it is not right that all countries should be treated the same.
"We must consider what will serve Japan's national interest. We are strongly requesting the U-S not to apply these 25% tariffs on Japan. There are different options. We have to consider which is the most effective and have all options in mind."
It is a huge blow to South Korea, too.
Industry Minister Ahn Duk-Geun says half of the country's car exports are sent to the U-S.
"About 50% of our automobile exports go to the United States, so there are concerns about significant damage to the auto industry. The difficulties will be especially severe for not only the finished car manufacturers but also the parts suppliers."
The Chinese government has condemned the new tariffs, with Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun saying there are no winners in a trade war.
"The U.S.'s actions violate WTO rules, undermine the rules-based multilateral trading system and the common interests of people of all countries, and are not conducive to solving its own problems."
The so-called Trump tariffs have been a body blow to America's key trade partners and their major industries.
Industry analysts have said they could be rolled back or modified before they come into effect next week, but there is no such indication yet from the White House.
Meanwhile, Canada is doubling down.
New Prime Minister Mark Carney will convene a Cabinet meeting in the coming hours over what he has described as an attack.
He says the old relationship between Canada and the United States is "over," following the car tariff announcement.
And Ontario Premier Doug Ford has called out President Trump directly.
"We either roll over as a country - he runs us over 15 times and gets what he wants - or we feel a little bit of pain and we fight like we’ve never fought before."
