The Trump Administration’s global economic policy, particularly its penchant for using tariffs as a bargaining chip, has had massive ramifications on the highly-globalized automotive industry. According to an analysis of the automaker financial reports by Automotive News, the Trump tariff plan has already cost automakers some $35.4 billion since the start of 2025.

The news come via analysis of the latest data from car companies, which include data for the full-year costs of 2025 as well as projections for 2026 through mid-March where applicable. The findings paint a rather striking look at the financial strain brought on by the president’s strategy. According to AN, Toyota looks set to receive the largest hit of any automaker, with projections targeting $9.1 billion for the 2026 fiscal year, which ends on March 31. Detroit’s Big Three reportedly saw $6.5 billion in tariff related expenditures in 2025. Other popular automakers like VW, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Honda, Nissan, and Hyundai-Kia either reported or are expected to report tariff expenditures of more than $1 billion each.

All of that financial strain also comes at the same time as Trump’s massive rework of emissions and climate regulations, which saw automakers walk back their EV initiatives. AN reports those actions have also cost automakers around $70 billion thus far.

The back-and-forth approach from the federal government about emissions and environmental policy, as well as the sudden, oscillating approach to assigning tariffs in the first place, has not made the job of auto executives any easier over the last year. Automakers have largely opted to eat tariff costs thus far, in the hope that stability returns soon, but that’s not going to be tenable forever. We’ve already seen brands like Porsche move to raise prices in an effort to combat tariff pressure.

We also know that Porsche and other brands are looking at building vehicles in the United States, as that’s one of the more straightforward ways to get around some of the cost. That’s a tremendously large investment to make if the policy isn’t here to stay long-term, however, especially as the United States Supreme Court has challenged Trump’s authority to implement broad-sweeping tariffs. The president doesn’t seem bothered by this legal defeat, with the administration announcing plans to continue using tariffs for leverage.

This situation is far from resolved, despite the fact that the administration has negotiated a majority of its trade deals with partner countries. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is set for review by July of this year, which could bring yet another wrinkle if the U.S. opts to leave the deal as Trump has suggested. Given how much business U.S. automakers do in Canada and Mexico, that would be yet another major blow to the industry. It seems like we’re all simply waiting to see how it plays out.