NEW YORK, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Finding an affordable car in the United States has already become a challenge for many budget-constrained Americans, as new import tariffs on Mexican-built vehicles threaten to make the problem worse, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported.
Today, nearly one-third of all vehicles priced below 30,000 U.S. dollars and sold in the United States are built in Mexico, including the Nissan Sentra, Ford Maverick and other popular nameplates, according to an analysis by car-shopping website Edmunds. A decade ago, Mexico was responsible for one-fifth of the affordable cars sold in the United States, the firm's data shows.
"The border country has long been a go-to for automakers looking to defray the hefty expense of manufacturing a car, particularly on smaller models that sell for lower price points and have slimmer profit margins than larger trucks and SUVs," noted the report.
President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to upend this strategy, pledging in November to impose 25 percent tariffs from Mexico and Canada, a move that could mean undoing the free-trade agreement he negotiated in his first term, said the report.
"Any new tariff-related costs are likely to be passed along to the consumer -- at least in the near-term -- and would hit the most affordable cars and SUVs the hardest," the report cited analysts and dealers, adding that some lower-price models and car parts built in the two neighboring countries would additionally be subject to new trade duties, further pushing up costs for manufacturers and consumers.
