Maritime imports of new cars to the U.S. dropped significantly over the past year, with approximately 3,600 cars arriving in May, a staggering 72.3% decline. This trend corresponds with automakers' strategies to avoid tariffs while stabilizing consumer prices. As a result, the automotive sector is also witnessing a decrease in parts and accessories imports. Interestingly, certain categories, such as vehicle bodies and cabs, increased by 18%, indicating a shift towards domestic assembly to mitigate tariff impacts. Experts attribute the decline primarily to Trump's tariff policies.
"It's almost impossible to reach any other conclusion than this is the impact of vehicle tariffs manifesting itself in import volumes," said Jackson Wood, Descartes Systems Group's director of industry strategy for global trade.
"Industry experts predicted that U.S. consumers would begin feel the effects caused by the tariffs by May -and by the looks of the change in overseas vehicle shipping volume, they were right."
"Automakers may be holding off imports, hoping to avoid paying Trump's tariffs should they change in the near future."
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