As Trump increases tariffs, GM and Hyundai increase the imports of south -haired

Detroit – as president Donald Trump threatens further increase tariffs to US trade partnersThe biggest influence on the auto industry outside North America would be additional taxes on South Korea and Japan.

East Asia countries produced a combined 16.8% of the vehicles sold last year in the US, including a record 8.6% from South Korea and 8.2% from Japan, according to CNBC data by Globaldata.

They were the largest vehicle importers in the US outside Mexico – and have few duties compared to 25% Tariff Trump threatened Imposing Canada and Mexico.

Car manufacturers like General Motors and based in South Korea Hyundai engine Export of vehicles without tariff from South Korea. Last year, the country overcame Japan and Canada to become the second largest exporter of new cars in the US, based on sale.

Only Mexico, which represented 16.2% of US car sales in 2024, was monitored, Globaldata reports.

“Obviously Hyundai has a huge exposure. Behind him GM … with relatively large volume models,” said Jeff Schuster, a global automotive exploration in Globaldat. “There is a lot of risks here, but it is limited, really limited, to these two players.”

Import from Japan is currently susceptible to 2.5% of car manufacturers like car manufacturers like Toyota engine,, Nissan engine and Honda engine. Vehicles from Japan represented about 1.31 million cars sold last year in the United States

The percentage of Japan sales has actually decreased in recent years, while exports and sales of South Korea have continued to grow with less than 845,000 in 2019 to more than 1.37 million in 2024.

South Korea has 0% of cars tariffs, despite Trump’s negotiations on a trade agreement with the country during its first term in 2018. That agreement was advertised to improve the import of vehicles to South Korea, but few did it to resolve vehicle exports to the United States

The deal also did little to increase car exports to South Korea, according to data from International Trade Commission. The export of US passenger vehicles in South Korea actually decreased by about 16%.

Separate from cars, tariffs on trucks embroidered from South Korea and Japan in the United States, as elsewhere, are 25%.

Tariff is a tax on import or foreign goods, brought to the United States. Companies that import goods pay for tariffs, and some experts are afraid to simply transfer all the companies to all additional costs to consumers – increasing the vehicle costs and potentially reduced demand.

GM is the largest direct foreign investor in Korea’s production industry, according to Car manufacturer website. He invested 9 trillion of the South Korean conquest (approximately $ 6.2 billion) from the establishment of operations in 2002.

GM produces its own Buick Encore Gx and Buick Envista Crossovers, as well as Chevrolet Trailblazer and Chevrolet Trax crossovers, in plants in South Korea. The company advertised that vehicles were peak to profitable to grow car manufacturer in vehicles with a lower margin.

“We take programs costs, improve profitability and create vehicles that customers love, like the new Chevy Trax and Buick Enviste,” said GM President Mark Reuss during the company during the company Investor Day in October. “Trax and Envista helped raise our share of the US market to the highest level since 2007.”

Hyundai did not immediately answer the question of potential tariffs to South Korea. GM and Kia refused to comment.

Terence Lau, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Syracuse who previously worked as a trade expert on Ford engineHe said the automotive industry was built on a free trade. If tariffs are carried out, the industry can be adjusted, but it takes time.

“The car industry can be adapted to anything. Really, it can. It will always produce a product that customers want to buy, because personal mobility and transport is human need around the world,” he said. “What the automotive industry cannot do is turning well.”

Lau claimed that a single -digit tariff could be a “annoyance”, but after hitting 10% or more, then additional costs can really start eating in margin or products.

Ford engine Executive director Jim Farley claimed last week that if Trump spends tariffs affecting the automotive industry, it should Take a “comprehensive” look In all countries even playgrounds in North America.

Farley singled out Toyota and Hyundai for imports hundreds of thousands of vehicles a year from Japan and South Korea.

“Millions of vehicles that do not apply to them come to our country [incremental tariffs]”Farley said during a companies earnings in the fourth quarter with investors.” So, if we have a tariff politics … it is better to be comprehensive for our industry.

“We can’t just choose one or the other because this is Bonanza for our import contestants.”

The White House did not respond to the comment on the potential tariffs on South Korea.

Trump on Thursday signed the presidential memorandum Setting up his plan to impose “reciprocal tariffs” to foreign nations, but did not go into detail about which countries could be aimed at.

As a presidential candidate, Trump has floated the possibility of imposing tariffs on all shipping imports. But he also advocated a congress to go through what he called “Trump’s reciprocal trade law,“What would strengthen him to slap the tariff on the goods of any country that has a larger tariff on the goods created by the United States.

– CNBC -ovi Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.