As I wrote late last year, the US automotive industry is a great example of the complexities of 21st-century manufacturing and the benefits of globalization:
[I]t’s widely acknowledged by automotive industry experts that freer trade and investment have generally fueled the growth and stability of North American automotive production since the 1990s.… By permanently reducing trade barriers, trade agreements have been credited with attracting more foreign investment and boosting overall industry competitiveness by lowering production costs (e.g., via imported inputs), utilizing national comparative advantages, and opening overseas markets.
It’s also a stark example of how and why tariffs would harm the modern US economy, including the manufacturing sector and American consumers. Automotive industry experts have warned that the tariffs would quickly “add a minimum of thousands of dollars” to the price of a new car in all three countries.
Hopefully, cooler heads prevail.