Donald Trump is to exclude carmakers across North America from the pain of tariffs levelled against Mexico and Canada, following apparent pressure from motor bosses.
The White House confirmed the concessions were taken after the president spoke to the bosses of Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
There will be an exemption of at least a month on vehicles made across the continent.
Manufacturers have complained of multiple tariff hits across their supply chains through flows of parts.
The spike in costs poses a big risk to sales as customers are asked to pay more to help compensate for the sanctions.
Automakers’ share prices have been among the worst hit since Mr Trump took office again in January because of the complicated nature of their operations that can see a single component cross a border multiple times during the production process.
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The car bosses, according to a Reuters news agency source, pledged additional US investment but wanted clarity on tariffs ahead and had pushed for rules of origin to limit costs from cross-border transit.
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There have been growing signs this week that corporate America is uneasy, at best, with the imposition of 25% tariffs against both Canada and Mexico from Tuesday.
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Those US neighbours, along with China, which is facing 20% tariffs, are the country’s three biggest trading partners.
The imposition of tariffs on all goods has been received badly by financial market investors, worried that US profitability is at risk.
One closely-watched forecast for US growth suggested that the threat of tariffs since Mr Trump’s election victory was confirmed had hammered activity and plunged the country into recession.
There are mounting reports of boycotts against US goods in Mexico and Canada.
The nerves were publicly admitted by the boss of Jack Daniel’s maker Brown Forman, Lawson Whiting, on Wednesday when he described Canadian provinces taking American-made alcohol off shop shelves as “worse than a tariff”.
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