DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Some car buyers and car dealers are collectively holding their breath as they brace for the 25% tariffs President Donald Trump is expected to impose on auto imports.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
“There is going to be a pretty significant increase,” Steve Raymond of Collectible Motor Car of Atlanta told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington on Tuesday.
“The customer can’t take a 25% increase in pricing right now. The cars are priced too high already,” Raymond explained.
Raymond said anyone in search of a new car, particularly a foreign car should prepare to pay more.
“I think it’s going to affect the higher priced cars more than the lower priced cars, but it affects everybody,” Raymond said.
TRENDING STORIES:
- 3 Fort Stewart soldiers who died during Lithuania training exercise identified
- Atlanta rapper Young Scooter died after accidentally injuring himself, medical examiner says
- Just how ‘rich’ are the ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta?’ Here’s each one’s net worth
Some car dealers said the time to buy is now because once auto tariffs go into effect that added price will only trickle down to the consumer.
The tariffs are set to go into effect this week. Also, this week, new digital billboards were posted in metro Atlanta.
The billboards, sponsored by Canadian officials read: “Tariffs are a tax on hard-working Americans.”
“Taxes that will be paid partly by foreign producers, partly by American consumers,” said Raymond Hill, an economic and finance professor at Emory University.
Hill said while it is unclear just how much higher the average price for a car will increase, he believes it is clear the tariffs will shake up the auto industry.
“Parts of that supply chain are going to get disrupted, and people are going to lose their jobs,” Hill told Washington.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
However, the White House said the tariffs will fuel domestic manufacturing. Trump said the tariffs would raise $100 billion in revenue.
“No one likes the increase in pricing but if that’s the way this president made a decision about what he’s going to do, we’re all going to be affected by tariffs,” Raymond explained.
Economists also predict that the cost of repairs, particularly on cars that use foreign parts, will increase too.
©2025 Cox Media Group
