The Morning After: Will the US imported car tariffs work?

The US will append a 25 percent tariff on top of any existing tariffs on all cars produced outside its borders. Additional fees will be imposed on imported components too like engines, transmissions, powertrains and electrical components. There’s a number of carve outs for US-based companies, as well as those sourcing gear from Mexico and Canada. But the move has been taken under the guise of “protecting” America’s car industry from imports. Of course, hefty tariffs are no guarantee consumers will flock to buy American if other brands are pricier. We’ve been here before: The ’70s oil shock meant bulky and inefficient American cars were suddenly money pits. That made light and efficient Japanese cars far more attractive to buyers who didn’t want to go broke at the gas pump. And that was despite a tariff regime that, as PBS reported in 2017, was equivalent to a 60 percent levy. Before 1980, Chrysler, GM and Ford were kings — now they muscle with Toyota, Honda and Hyundai for a slice of the pie. Given the new administration’s work to undermine the EV transition, it’s likely we’ll see a big pivot back to gas-powered vehicles. Especially as the one EV company likely to benefit from such a move has potentially diminished its reputation in the eyes of some buyers. The end result, however, may likely erode any sort of advantage the US auto industry has, allowing China the chance to race ahead in the rest of the world. — Dan Cooper Get this delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! The biggest tech stories you missed The Pentagon warns government officials that Signal is being targeted by Russian hackersI’m not sure why we should worry, it’s not as if government officials are secretly using Signal to agree war plans, are they?! Sorry… what’s that? The minimalist Light Phone III is officially available for purchaseIt offers private GPS for folks who don’t want Google tracking their movements. No Man’s Sky now lets players dig up planets to look for ancient alien skeletons Better charge up that Terrain Manipulator. A new MEMS tweeter for wireless earbuds doesn’t require an amplifier Better sound in a smaller package is always welcome. Utah just became the first state in the country to pass an age verification law for app storesNobody involved in this law has ever put their thumb on a TouchID sensor to allow an app to download because their kid hasn’t shut up about something for three hours. iPad (2025) with A16 review: No Apple Intelligence, no problem Plus, it’s cheap. Jeff Dunn for Engadget Engadget’s Jeff Dunn has put the new 2025 base-model iPad through its paces, and it comes with no surprises. The new slate gets a faster chip, A16, and 2GB more ram than its immediate predecessor. Naturally, compared to the pricier iPads, its performance isn’t going to pull up too many trees, but you’re not using a base model iPad for intensive work. Plus, it’s not going to get any Apple Intelligence features, which I’ll take any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Continue Reading. Canon goes all in on vlogging with the PowerShot V1 compact and R50 V mirrorless cameras It’s a tank parked on Sony’s lawn. Steve Dent for Engadget Canon has announced two new compact mirrorless cameras for the vlogging crowd, the R50V Mirrorless and PowerShot V1 Compact. Both are attempts to muscle in on Sony’s turf in the videography space, boasting 4K video (1080p as a webcam), fancy autofocus tricks and a fully articulating display (at the expense of an electronic viewfinder). Engadget’s Steve Dent will review them in due course, but it’s hard to wonder if the vlogging space really needs yet more entrants, especially right now. Continue Reading. Block reportedly lays off almost 1,000 employees It has more than 10,000 staff members. Block, Jack Dorsey’s payments company which owns Square and Cash App, has laid off 931 workers. The outfit denies the move is to cut costs, saying it’s to improve efficiency and flatten the organization by eliminating managers. As much as I’m sad for those folks who have lost their jobs, I’m staggered that 931 workers is only around eight percent of its workforce. When the tedious bores moaned Twitter was overstaffed, I knew they were talking out of their backsides. After all, a global social network needs bodies to keep the site running, engage with advertisers and moderate such a sprawling platform. And while most financial institutions need plenty of qualified folks to comply with financial laws — not that Block has a stellar record in that area — 10,000 people to run Square and Cash App seems like a lot. Continue Reading. Robinhood is moving into banking services with luxury perks and same-day cash delivery I’m sure Gamestop buyers would love to bank with Robinhood. This fall, Robinhood will offer banking services to users with a Gold subscription, with all the usual perks banks throw at customers. That includes checking and savings accounts, money transfers to more than 100 countries and same

Mar 28, 2025 - 13:10

The Morning After: Will the US imported car tariffs work?

The US will append a 25 percent tariff on top of any existing tariffs on all cars produced outside its borders. Additional fees will be imposed on imported components too like engines, transmissions, powertrains and electrical components. There’s a number of carve outs for US-based companies, as well as those sourcing gear from Mexico and Canada. But the move has been taken under the guise of “protecting” America’s car industry from imports.

Of course, hefty tariffs are no guarantee consumers will flock to buy American if other brands are pricier. We’ve been here before: The ’70s oil shock meant bulky and inefficient American cars were suddenly money pits. That made light and efficient Japanese cars far more attractive to buyers who didn’t want to go broke at the gas pump. And that was despite a tariff regime that, as PBS reported in 2017, was equivalent to a 60 percent levy. Before 1980, Chrysler, GM and Ford were kings — now they muscle with Toyota, Honda and Hyundai for a slice of the pie.

Given the new administration’s work to undermine the EV transition, it’s likely we’ll see a big pivot back to gas-powered vehicles. Especially as the one EV company likely to benefit from such a move has potentially diminished its reputation in the eyes of some buyers. The end result, however, may likely erode any sort of advantage the US auto industry has, allowing China the chance to race ahead in the rest of the world.

— Dan Cooper

Get this delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

The biggest tech stories you missed

The Pentagon warns government officials that Signal is being targeted by Russian hackers
I’m not sure why we should worry, it’s not as if government officials are secretly using Signal to agree war plans, are they?! Sorry… what’s that?
The minimalist Light Phone III is officially available for purchase
It offers private GPS for folks who don’t want Google tracking their movements.
No Man’s Sky now lets players dig up planets to look for ancient alien skeletons
Better charge up that Terrain Manipulator.
A new MEMS tweeter for wireless earbuds doesn’t require an amplifier
Better sound in a smaller package is always welcome.
Utah just became the first state in the country to pass an age verification law for app stores
Nobody involved in this law has ever put their thumb on a TouchID sensor to allow an app to download because their kid hasn’t shut up about something for three hours.

iPad (2025) with A16 review: No Apple Intelligence, no problem

Plus, it’s cheap.

Image of the rear side of a pink iPad (2025)

Engadget’s Jeff Dunn has put the new 2025 base-model iPad through its paces, and it comes with no surprises. The new slate gets a faster chip, A16, and 2GB more ram than its immediate predecessor. Naturally, compared to the pricier iPads, its performance isn’t going to pull up too many trees, but you’re not using a base model iPad for intensive work. Plus, it’s not going to get any Apple Intelligence features, which I’ll take any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Continue Reading.

Canon goes all in on vlogging with the PowerShot V1 compact and R50 V mirrorless cameras

It’s a tank parked on Sony’s lawn.

Canon has announced two new compact mirrorless cameras for the vlogging crowd, the R50V Mirrorless and PowerShot V1 Compact. Both are attempts to muscle in on Sony’s turf in the videography space, boasting 4K video (1080p as a webcam), fancy autofocus tricks and a fully articulating display (at the expense of an electronic viewfinder). Engadget’s Steve Dent will review them in due course, but it’s hard to wonder if the vlogging space really needs yet more entrants, especially right now.

Continue Reading.

Block reportedly lays off almost 1,000 employees

It has more than 10,000 staff members.

Block, Jack Dorsey’s payments company which owns Square and Cash App, has laid off 931 workers. The outfit denies the move is to cut costs, saying it’s to improve efficiency and flatten the organization by eliminating managers. As much as I’m sad for those folks who have lost their jobs, I’m staggered that 931 workers is only around eight percent of its workforce.

When the tedious bores moaned Twitter was overstaffed, I knew they were talking out of their backsides. After all, a global social network needs bodies to keep the site running, engage with advertisers and moderate such a sprawling platform. And while most financial institutions need plenty of qualified folks to comply with financial laws — not that Block has a stellar record in that area — 10,000 people to run Square and Cash App seems like a lot.

Continue Reading.

Robinhood is moving into banking services with luxury perks and same-day cash delivery

I’m sure Gamestop buyers would love to bank with Robinhood.

This fall, Robinhood will offer banking services to users with a Gold subscription, with all the usual perks banks throw at customers. That includes checking and savings accounts, money transfers to more than 100 countries and same-day cash deliveries to your door. You can even get your own wealth-management service, for all of the vast riches you’ve got left over once you’ve paid your rent, your car loan and bought six eggs from your local corner store.

Continue Reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-will-the-us-imported-car-tariffs-work-112509770.html?src=rss