The impact of Trump's 35% tariffs of imports into the US

**MrBurgundy** · 08-22-2025, 03:55 PM

He doesn't need to be voted out. Last 3 years ever

**Massive Lee** · 08-22-2025, 04:33 PM

Originally posted by MrBurgundy

He doesn't need to be voted out. Last 3 years ever

What about the midterm elections? MAGA will most likely turn their back on him after having been butt f*cked with no lube...

**82eye** · 08-22-2025, 05:47 PM

Originally posted by Massive Lee

What about the midterm elections? MAGA will most likely turn their back on him after having been butt f*cked with no lube...

he will either suspend the elections or declare them null and void. with armed enforcement already deployed in the capital i doubt he'll ever leave the white house.

as far as suspending your business, you said it yourself, it effects all bmw enthusiasts equally. i'd be curious to see if your production costs are going to rise internally due to the tariffs, or if they can be mitigated somewhat. it could be possible to continue to offer your products on a US pricing vs rest of the world pricing basis. of course making clear that any differences are due to the political situation. canada announced it is reducing or eliminating any countervailing tariffs, so your costs to mfgr should not be affected if you use US sourcing for any of your products.

i'm willing to bet that new markets and supply chains will develop over time as a result of the US tariffs, which may not be a bad result.

**Massive Lee** · 08-22-2025, 06:21 PM

Originally posted by 82eye

he will either suspend the elections or declare them null and void. with armed enforcement already deployed in the capital i doubt he'll ever leave the white house.

as far as suspending your business, you said it yourself, it effects all bmw enthusiasts equally. i'd be curious to see if your production costs are going to rise internally due to the tariffs, or if they can be mitigated somewhat. it could be possible to continue to offer your products on a US pricing vs rest of the world pricing basis. of course making clear that any differences are due to the political situation. canada announced it is reducing or eliminating any countervailing tariffs, so your costs to mfgr should not be affected if you use US sourcing for any of your products.

i'm willing to bet that new markets and supply chains will develop over time as a result of the US tariffs, which may not be a bad result.

I use Canadian-sourced aluminum and steel. My production costs will not increase. But only crossing the border will make parts at least 35% more expensive. Plus the clerical work to pay those tarrifs myself. But honestly, my 400$ kit + 160$ tariffs will not be 560$ better. It will just be a 400$ kit with stupid import taxes. I really feel bad for clients having to fork an extra 160$ just because of that idiot orange monkey in the Whitehouse. But American shops who fabricate parts will encure much higher production costs because of tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Even US-made material will be as costly as the imported stuff as US manufacturers are not stupid. They will simply increase their profit margin and sell same price as the imported stuff. Again, the consumer will be the big fat loser. Then wait for Bimmerworld or FCB selling those nice Bilstein shocks 35 or 40% more. Or even cars manufactured in the US as they have 40 to 50% imported content. Profit margin being under 9%, don't expect them to swallow tariffs overcharge... It will be very expensive to live in the US... Because when tariffs vanish, price will stay high. It is always like that. But surely, I will make sure to indicate original prices and the added tariff so that people really know the price structure.

**82eye** · 08-22-2025, 08:13 PM

Originally posted by Massive Lee

I use Canadian-sourced aluminum and steel. My production costs will not increase. But only crossing the border will make parts at least 35% more expensive. Plus the clerical work to pay those tarrifs myself. But honestly, my 400$ kit + 160$ tariffs will not be 560$ better. It will just be a 400$ kit with stupid import taxes. I really feel bad for clients having to fork an extra 160$ just because of that idiot orange monkey in the Whitehouse. But American shops who fabricate parts will encure much higher production costs because of tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Even US-made material will be as costly as the imported stuff as US manufacturers are not stupid. They will simply increase their profit margin and sell same price as the imported stuff. Again, the consumer will be the big fat loser. Then wait for Bimmerworld or FCB selling those nice Bilstein shocks 35 or 40% more. Or even cars manufactured in the US as they have 40 to 50% imported content. Profit margin being under 9%, don't expect them to swallow tariffs overcharge... It will be very expensive to live in the US... Because when tariffs vanish, price will stay high. It is always like that. But surely, I will make sure to indicate original prices and the added tariff so that people really know the price structure.

i know you are in bad spot, but part of me would think it funny to see a website posting dual pricing for the US and canada/world, especially if it winds up a bargain in cdn $. for years i've been beaten up over having to order near everything from the states, then getting screwed over by shipping and import charges. some things like my ronals were cheaper ordering from europe.

we really need our own import parts retailer, possible this may spur a business opportunity.

**82eye** · 08-28-2025, 10:18 AM

all small parcel shipping to the US has been suspended from near everywhere except canada. it may not affect larger suppliers immediately, but it will definitely end individual parts purchases made in europe destined for US soil. even larger suppliers in the US are voicing expectations this will disrupt them at some point.

european carriers are still delivering to canada as usual. wondering if re-mailers sending packages to the US will start up as there has already been some interest expressed. it literally just began, so will be interesting if it sticks or has any traction.

**Massive Lee** · 08-28-2025, 10:27 AM

This whole trade war between the US and the rest of the world will quickly turn into a shit show. I was on the impression that Republicans were in favour of Free Trade.

**82eye** · 08-28-2025, 10:33 AM

Originally posted by Massive Lee

This whole trade war between the US and the rest of the world will quickly turn into a shit show. I was on the impression that Republicans were in favour of Free Trade.

seems republicans have a sliding scale when it comes to the definition of what "free" is

**2mAn** · 08-28-2025, 11:06 AM

Trying to decide if this needs to go to P&R... comments seem to be taking it in that direction.

Lee, have you heard the term TACO yet? I'd try and hold steady until "Trump Always Chickens Out"...

**82eye** · 08-28-2025, 12:45 PM

Originally posted by 2mAn

Trying to decide if this needs to go to P&R... comments seem to be taking it in that direction.

possibly, but it does affect e30 and other enthusiast drivers in a very direct way with both finance and parts availability.

Originally posted by 2mAn

Lee, have you heard the term TACO yet? I'd try and hold steady until "Trump Always Chickens Out"...

it is in effect already. there is no chickening out as of yet. it isn't the US suspending small parcel delivery, it's the rest of the world suspending it to the US.

**Massive Lee** · 08-28-2025, 02:37 PM

Originally posted by 2mAn

Trying to decide if this needs to go to P&R... comments seem to be taking it in that direction.

Lee, have you heard the term TACO yet? I'd try and hold steady until "Trump Always Chickens Out"...

Yes. You are correct. Let's try not using the T word and focus on the impact those tariffs will very soon have on e30 owners when they purchase parts.
50% on anything imported from India. 15% on European parts.

"As part of President XXXXXX's strategy to establish balanced trade, the European Union will pay the United States a tariff rate of 15%"

Actually, it is not the EU that will pay that tax, but the US importers, distributors, and finally the US consumers... As is the usually habit, importers will apply the tax as soon as it is legally mandated, and including on the current inventory. Therefore, whatever your distributor has in stock shall not be impacted. But if the parts must be ordered from the US importer, then the price shall be higher from the distributor.

Let us know if you are witnessing a price increase on imported parts from Europe.

After enquiring, but still awaiting for confirmation, all products that already complied to the USMCA (US-Mexico-Canada-Agreement) shall not be tariffed. Therefore most car parts originating from Canada shall be exempted. I believe my products comply. I am using Canadian steel and aluminum. Parts manufacfuring is Canadian and workers are paid more than $16 an hour ;-)

It might be uglier for US shops though as they will pay 50% taxes on steel and aluminum. Prices of domestically produced steel and aluminum might very well increase too since steel and alu manufacturers are businessmen and there's a great opportunity to make more profit. I expect a certain level of scarcity which might kick prices even higher. Basically, for wanting to push the metallurgy sector, those tariffs might very well hurt the US manufacturers... Most likely the same scenario as when XXXXX tariffed Canadian steel and aluminum in 2018 and withdrew the tariffs after one year when realizing that the tarifs have cost 750,000 direct and indirect jobs...

Lee

**Northern** · 08-28-2025, 03:02 PM

I was under the impression that our PM dropping reciprocal tariffs was to try to have trump cancel these coming into effect this weekend.

I got hit with $50 on an FCP order of various european manufactured parts, so I am trying to hold out on any further purchases until things stabilize a bit.

**82eye** · 08-28-2025, 08:40 PM

Originally posted by Northern

I was under the impression that our PM dropping reciprocal tariffs was to try to have trump cancel these coming into effect this weekend.

I got hit with $50 on an FCP order of various european manufactured parts, so I am trying to hold out on any further purchases until things stabilize a bit.

pelican rushed through an order this wk for me before anything took effect. sent usps and didn't get hit up for any import duties or added tariffs. i'm kicking myself for not adding a couple more things to it.

if you can get it through postal a lot of the charges are being waived. if you have it shipped carrier then you'll get soaked.

**McGyver** · 08-29-2025, 04:16 AM

This is all a shit show. Although I may agree with some of the general ideas, I think the execution is beyond absurd.

The US had one of the world's highest de minimis exemption, meaning anything shipped direct to a consumer and valued at less than $800 has no import duties, even if the product would normally have a tariff applied. Take Temu for example - They sell cheap shitty clothes direct to consumers, so the clothes avoid the normal tariff on clothing. A retailer like H&M that sell cheap shitty clothes has to pay the tariff. This creates an imbalance that negatively impacts the brick and mortar store. I can understand Massive, a small business, being able to sell direct and avoid duties. I do not think a multi-million dollar company like Temu should be able to take advantage of a tax loophole as a business plan. I think it makes sense to reduce the de minimis exemption.

When it comes to tariffs, they can be a useful tool. Take China dumping cheap steel/aluminum on the American market to drive prices down and push American producers out of business. Putting a tariff on the Chinese materials evens the playing field so Americans can compete, but it also means American manufacturing will have to pay a higher price, which gets passed on to consumers. So even though we help one group, we hurt another. But look at rare earth metals. Something like 90% of the world's supply comes from China. The US and Australia used to mine them, but it was too costly to compete with Chinese sources, so the mines closed. Then China temporarily cut off the supply for some political reason. America and Australia started reopening mines. When China shipped cheap materials again, American mines closed and the Australians used public money to subsidize mining for national security reasons. During the latest Chinese disruption, America was fucked while Australia was inconvenienced. So using tariffs to support a national industry can be good in the long run, when used correctly.

I think tariffs are a great idea for targeted industries, like EVs and solar panels. China is so far ahead that I doubt the US can catch up. Tariffs for this would give US companies time to develop products and price Chinese products higher. It may even have the effect of forcing Chinese companies to manufacture in the US, where we get to learn about their processes and supply chains and then apply that to other US manufacturing, further leveling the playing field. This is exactly what China did with Apple manufacturing that led to Huawei.

I also like the idea of slapping tariffs on India. They buy a ton of Russian oil, which props up Putin's war in Ukraine. If India were to sanction Russia and stop buying their products, it would help pressure Putin.

I can see tariffs as a tool to bring back some manufacturing jobs, high tech stuff, not t-shirt making. But this would require advance notice to the business community so they could plan and build, and trust that tariffs would actually take effect.

So yeah, a shitshow. I like some of the ideas in theory, but how it's happening just makes me mad. And most people here don't understand what's going on or how the world works.

The impact of Trump's 35% tariffs of imports into the US

The impact of Trump's 35% tariffs of imports into the US

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