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Suppliers in Limbo Over Constant Tariff Changes
The ongoing uncertainty surrounding the import tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump has left many foreign suppliers in a state of limbo at the WCX 2025 trade show in Detroit. The recent announcement of a 90-day pause in reciprocal tariffs for most countries, except for China, has only added to the confusion.
Jerry Kuo, vice president of sales at Taiwan-based auto supplier Shih Yi, expressed concerns about the impact of these constant tariff changes on his company’s business. “The impact might be a little bit suffering, because our customers may come back to us and asking us to make up that margin,” said Kuo. “You may just have to refuse to take orders from the U.S., but we don’t want to see that.”
Furthermore, the lack of long-term stability makes it challenging for companies like Shih Yi to make informed business decisions. Jin Kim, an interpreter and representative for several suppliers at the Hyundai Motor Group Partners booth, emphasized this point. “It’s not something that we can definitely say is a long term or short term,” said Jin. “Is this today and this tomorrow, and this one, you know, next week, so it’s you can’t make business decisions based on maybe a weekly moving target.”
The unpredictable nature of these tariffs also makes it difficult for small suppliers to consider relocating some production to the United States to avoid them. Jack Weast, vice president and general manager at Intel Automotive, highlighted the challenges faced by such companies during his presentation at the WCX 2025 show. “You can’t just make decisions based on maybe a weekly moving target,” he said.
In contrast, Chinese auto suppliers have been able to operate efficiently at lower costs due to differences in operational and cultural practices. Weast suggested that U.S. automakers adopt similar strategies, including taking a whole vehicle systems approach and breaking down organizational silos to better compete with these Chinese companies.
The constant tariff changes are not only affecting international suppliers but also the US automotive industry as a whole.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/edgarsten/2025/04/09/suppliers-in-limbo-over-constant-tariff-changes/
