Trump Targets USMCA as Stellantis Faces US$2.7 Billion Tariff Hit

The US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick stated that President Donald Trump will renegotiate USMCA within the next year, citing a desire to reduce automotive imports from Mexico and Canada. Meanwhile, global automaker Stellantis reported a preliminary US$2.7 billion net loss for the first half of 2025, attributing a significant portion of the financial impact to early effects of US tariffs.

“It makes sense that the president renegotiates it ( USMCA). He wants to protect American jobs. He does not want cars built in Canada or Mexico when they could be built in Michigan and Ohio,” confirmed Lutnick in an interview on CBS News’ Face The Nation. Lutnick defended the administration’s tariff policy as an effort to open foreign markets and promote fair trade. “We need to open markets. It is about fair trade, reciprocal trade. Why should we keep our country wide open while theirs is closed? This has been an 80-year mistake that President Trump is trying to fix,” he said.

Lutnick also highlighted progress with the tariffs planned for Mexico and Canada, as well as other US trading partners. “On Aug. 1, new tariffs will take effect. There will be no extensions. Nothing prevents countries from talking to us after Aug. 1, but they will start paying tariffs then,” Lutnick said. The tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada would be set at 30%.

Regarding concerns about the impact of tariffs on US consumers, Lutnick minimized the inflation effect, responding to a reporter’s question about rising consumer prices: “How much did it rise? One-tenth of a percent? The dollar has dropped more than 10%, so the dollar’s decline completely offsets the tariffs. These are small numbers.”

In a separate development, Stellantis, the multinational automaker owning brands such as Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, and Peugeot, reported a preliminary and unaudited net loss of US$2.7 billion for 1H25. The company attributed part of this loss to “the early effects of US tariffs,” estimating a US$350 million net loss due to tariffs and production reductions related to its response strategy.

Stellantis disclosed first-half net revenue of US$86.7 billion, down from US$99.1 billion for the same period last year. The company’s 2Q25 vehicle shipments were estimated at 1.4 million units, a 6% decrease year-over-year. In North America alone, shipments declined by roughly 109,000 units in that same period, marking a 25% drop, mainly due to reduced production and shipments of imported vehicles affected by tariffs, along with decreased fleet sales.