Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Sept. 26, 2025:
- President Trump will impose tariffs on "all 'Heavy (Big!) Trucks' made in other parts of the World." Here's what he says it will accomplish.
- Truck operator is hit with a grand jury indictment for Manslaughter, Aggravated Assault Causing Serious Bodily Injury, and Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon after a crash that ultimatley was an exhibit in the DOT's case for tackling non-domiciled CDL loopholes, as announced this morning.
Trump placing big duty on big truck imports
President Donald Trump on Thursday announced on his Truth Social platform that, effective next week, the U.S. will levy tariffs on all imported heavy-duty trucks.
"In order to protect our Great Heavy Truck Manufacturers from unfair outside competition, I will be imposing, as of October 1st, 2025, a 25% Tariff on all 'Heavy (Big!) Trucks' made in other parts of the World," he wrote. "Therefore, our Great Large Truck Company Manufacturers, such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks, and others, will be protected from the onslaught of outside interruptions. We need our Truckers to be financially healthy and strong, for many reasons, but above all else, for National Security purposes!"
All the major North American heavy-truck manufacturers are global companies but have assembly operations in the U.S.
Companies that supplement assembly with operations in Mexico are generally allowed to bring those trucks into the U.S. tariff-free under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement -- a deal Trump signed in 2018 that went into effect in 2020, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
International Motors, while absent from Trump's list of "Great Large Truck Company Manufacturers," manufactures its powertrains in Huntsville, Alabama, and has truck assembly plants in Escobedo, Mexico; San Antonio, Texas; and Springfield, Ohio. Volvo, also not on the list, builds trucks in Dublin, Virginia, and powertrains in Hagerstown, Maryland. Volvo also has a new plant under construction in Monterrey, Mexico, scheduled to open next year.
Felony manslaughter charges for driver in I-35 crash that killed 5
A Travis County, Texas, grand jury in the 390th Judicial District Court returned a 22-count indictment against Solomun Weldekeal Araya, the 37-year old driver whose March 13 crash on I-35 killed five.
The indictment includes five counts of Manslaughter, two counts of Aggravated Assault Causing Serious Bodily Injury, and 15 counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
The crash killed an entire family, including two children, and also hospitalized 11 after Araya failed to slow down approaching traffic and roadwork near Austin, Texas. Araya, allegedly, was using CNS depressants at the time of the crash, and a video following the crash showed him struggling to speak English.
Araya's crash came up on Friday in a press conference with DOT Secretary Sean Duffy, who flagged him as one of five drivers with non-domiciled CDLs that have been involved in fatal crashes in the recent past that seemed to clarly have been the truck operator's fault.
"All offenses are second-degree felonies," the Travis County DA said in its press release. "The Manslaughter counts relate to five separate victims. The two counts of Aggravated Assault Causing Serious Bodily Injury and the 15 counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon involve 17 different victims who were injured."
“Our hearts continue to break for the victims and their families,” said Travis County District Attorney José Garza. “In this case, a group of independent Travis County community members reviewed the evidence and the law and determined that there was probable cause to believe that Mr. Araya’s conduct was unlawful.”
[Related: DOT hopes to force 194,000 non-domiciled CDL holders out of trucking]
