According to foreign media reports, international automakers are racing against time to ship cars and core components to the United States to rush ahead of the next round of tariffs announced by US President Trump in April, as a new round of tariffs may cause serious damage to the automobile supply chain.
According to industry sources, at the request of automakers, several ships carrying cars have been sent to Asia and Europe, with the number of cars planned to ship to the United States “thousands” more than usual.
Lasse Kristoffersen, CEO of automobile shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen, told the Financial Times that “the volume of automobiles from Asia exceeds our business capacity”.
He said the company had increased capacity to meet demand, adding that the growth in capacity would have been even greater if it weren’t for the shortage of automobile transport ships in the industry.
South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia are also working to ship more cars to the United States before the tariff exemption deadline, according to another shipping industry executive. Hyundai declined to comment on its strategy for the above report, but said: “We will continue to optimize our car transportation plans to adapt to the market.”
Meanwhile, an executive at a German automaker said the company is also shipping more cars from Europe to the United States in response to the tariff threat.
The transportation boom has led to a 22% increase in the number of cars shipped from the EU to the United States in February, and a 14% increase in the number of cars shipped from Japan to the United States. The number of cars shipped from South Korea to North America increased by 15%.
Stian Omli, senior vice president of Esgian, a car transport ship monitoring platform, said the number of car transport ships from Europe to the United States has “a significant increase.”
“We do see an increase in car transport from Europe and may soon see an increase in car transport from East Asia,” he said. He added, “There are a lot of car transport ships that have reported that they will travel to the United States in recent times, which clearly shows that the number of cars shipped to the United States is increasing.”
In addition, companies that make cars and parts in Mexico and Canada are also preparing for possible tariffs on exports to the United States. Honda is trying to ship shipments from Canada and Mexico to the United States in advance, while Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler and Jeep, said it is moving inventory across the border to U.S. factories and increasing vehicle production during the month’s tariff suspension period.
“Looking at the cars we make in Canada and Mexico, we will know that our U.S. dealers currently have a fairly adequate inventory, and most models can last around 70 to 80 days,” said Doug Ostermann, chief financial officer of Stellantis, at a recent meeting.
Another logistics executive working in the automotive supply chain sector said manufacturers of automotive electronics such as car audio systems are “considering stockpiling more in the U.S..”
However, not the entire industry has taken the same response. Toyota said it “has not increased the number of cars exported from Japan (or other countries) to the United States due to expected future tariffs,” and the two Japanese auto transport companies also reported little change in demand for auto transport.
Earlier, U.S. President Trump had said that “reciprocal” tariffs on U.S. trading partners will take effect on April 2, when Trump’s previously announced 30-day suspension period for imposing 25% tariffs on imported goods from Mexico and Canada will also end.
Even though the tariff policy was delayed by 30 days, giving automakers more time to ship inventory to the U.S., Cody Lusk, CEO of the American International Automobile Dealers Association, said the greater uncertainty is how long these tariffs will last and which countries will eventually apply.
“Will the tariff treatment in each country be different? Or are everyone the same? We’re all waiting and seeing,” Lusk said.
“The bigger question is how the U.S. tariff policy will affect the auto trade over time, and customers are very uncertain about where things are going,” said Kristoffersen of auto shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen.