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2 Troubled Carmakers, Nissan and Stellantis, Could Be Hit Hardest by Tariffs
A possible 25 percent levy on goods from Canada and Mexico is likely to raise the prices consumers pay for new cars and trucks, and disrupt complex supply chains.
Nissan Motor has had a bumpy ride over the last several months.
In February, it reported a plunge in profit and cut its outlook for the third time in the past 12 months as it faces declining sales. Merger talks with Honda collapsed, and the company is scrambling to slash costs and cut thousands of jobs.
Now it’s bracing for what could be another shock to its business: the tariffs that President Trump is threatening to impose on goods imported from Canada and Mexico. About a third of the nearly one million cars Nissan sold in the United States last year were assembled in Mexican plants.
“If it kicks in,” the automaker’s chief executive, Makoto Uchida, said in an earnings conference call last month, “that is going to be a huge impact to profit.”
Almost all automakers would be affected by the tariffs. But the impact could fall most heavily on those already facing financial trouble. That includes not just Nissan but also Stellantis, the maker of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles, which is racing to reorganize and streamline its operations.
Mr. Trump has suggested levies of as much as 25 percent on most goods manufactured in Canada and Mexico — both trading partners of the United States and members of a North American trade bloc that has operated essentially as a tariff-free trade zone for the last three decades.
