President Donald Trump, in a post Monday on his Truth Social platform, announced a 25% tariff on "all Medium and Heavy Duty Trucks coming into the United States from other Countries" will take effect Nov. 1.
That move represents a delay from his previously-announced Oct. 1 25% tariff on heavy-duty trucks and adds medium-duty trucks to the mix.
According to reporting from Overdrive sister publication CCJ, truck manufacturers in the U.S. are still unclear about how the tax will impact their operations.
[Related: Trump imposing 25% tariff on trucks]
"We’re continuing to work toward a better understanding of how enforcement will be handled," a Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) spokesperson told CCJ Monday afternoon.
Similarly, a spokesperson for International Motors told CCJ Monday that the company hasn't received any details regarding compliance since Trump's original social media announcement in September.
It’s still unclear as to whether the new tariff will be levied on top of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), if those trucks will remain exempt as long as 75% of the value in materials and labor is sourced from North America, or whether the new tariff includes parts.
All the major North American heavy-truck manufacturers are global companies with assembly operations in the U.S., but many supplement those plants with sister facilities in Mexico. Under the USMCA free trade agreement -- a deal Trump signed in 2018 that went into effect in 2020, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) -- those trucks have generally been allowed into the U.S. tariff-free, but recent diplomatic history suggests that is about to change.
[Related: New truck tariff will spark 'major increase in equipment costs']
