Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced a sweeping array of tariffs on every country on Earth. While many of these tariffs have since been halted, there is still a baseline 10% tariff on every country, with goods from China receiving a significantly higher tariff.
Alongside the tariffs placed on goods from other countries, there are also general tariffs placed on certain items. For example, if a company manufactures goods in the United States using imported steel, it will need to pay a 25% tariff on all of the steel it brings in.
Additionally, cars are facing significant tariffs. Since April 2, foreign-made cars have faced a 25% levy, and that tariff was extended to cover imported engines and other car parts on May 3.
Naturally, many industries have been shaken up by these tariffs, and the auto industry is no exception. Now, a user on TikTok has issued a warning to those who might need a car repair in the future.
How will the tariffs impact car prices?
In a video with over 187,000 views, TikTok user Tony (@toledojoker34) warns viewers to “be prepared to have the automotive industry get hit with possibly slowing down production, and those car prices going up.”
“I work in the automotive industry and I can tell you the majority of our parts come from Mexico, Canada, China,” he says while sitting in a Home Depot, “so this is gonna hit production with us pretty soon.”
He told the Daily Dot via email that he works building a “popular Jeep brand.”
Tony isn’t the first to issue such a warning. On May 3, the New York Times published an article warning that car prices are expected to increase significantly thanks to the implementation of Trump’s tariffs.
Even manufacturers that produce cars in America are affected, as many American cars are made with a variety of components, such as engines, transmissions, or batteries, that are manufactured in other countries.
However, the New York Times notes that the tariffs on parts will not affect components from Canada or Mexico, as long as the parts in question comply with the terms of a North American trade agreement established during Trump’s first term.
Will car companies move to the United States?
While the express goal of the tariffs was to move manufacturing to the United States, this does not appear to be happening at the current moment.
There are two reasons for this. First, moving the totality of factories involved in producing a car—from those that make engines to those that manufacture car infotainment systems, to the United States would take years, if not decades. Given how fickle the administration has been about these tariffs, and the possibility that a future president could simply repeal them, companies are currently not seeing it as advisable to fully relocate their manufacturing to the United States.
Second, even if companies were able to fully relocate to the United States, the products produced in-country risk being too expensive for the average American to afford. In April 2025, Mashable attempted to estimate how much it would cost to produce a single iPhone completely in the United States.
If such a thing were even possible (an idea debated by experts), estimates put the total price of an all-American iPhone between $3,000 and an incredible $30,000, with one estimate putting the price at $100,000.
If a car were entirely manufactured in America, it is possible that consumers would see similar price jumps. Car prices are already increasing, and experts are speculating that the tariffs will increase the price of used cars as well.
What is Tony seeing inside the auto industry?
“It hasn’t really affected our plant,” he said of the tariffs. “It has affected our sister plants in Detroit with layoffs. But as far as affecting my life, they have — we aren’t allowed any overtime and just a regular 40 hours, versus last year, we working 50+ hours a week.”
That said, he warned that the industry was only “just starting to feel the effects now,” warning that a greater impact will be felt in two to three weeks.
“It [will] be harder to get your car fix[ed] due to the parts [being] hard to get and order,” he concluded.
@toledojoker34 The car industry is about to get hit with the latest round of tariffs with the auto parts at 25% this will effect the auto industry big time. #fypシ #breakingnews #automotive #auto #news #automobile #ford #gm #stellantis ♬ original sound – Tattooedguy
‘Everything is going up but workers’ wages.’
In the comments section, users shared their worries about the current auto market.
“My husband works in the automotive industry and it’s already greatly affected his salary,” wrote a user.
“Also everyone forgets when car parts go up, insurance goes up with it,” noted another.
“Everything is going up but workers wages,” declared a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to Tony via email.
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