Car buyers in Southern California scramble to beat 25% auto tariffs
But the car was declared a total loss on Monday, three days before President Trump's 25% tariff on imported cars and light trucks is set to go into effect.
'It's like the worst timing imaginable to be buying a car, and the uncertainty is killing me about what's going to happen and how it's going to affect prices,' said Boyd, 74, a retired attorney from Mar Vista. 'I anticipated driving my car for quite some time, sailing through the tariffs, but now I'm faced smack up against them.'
She rushed to Culver City Toyota on Tuesday.
'I'm going to buy what's on the lot, the current inventory, just to avoid it," Boyd said. "Today, tomorrow, whatever they have available is what I will pick from. Obviously I need a car. I just wish it weren't now.'
Boyd's anxiety was widely shared among many car buyers in Southern California who were scrambling to make their vehicle purchases before the tariff kicked in.
The global trade war escalated further Wednesday afternoon, when Trump said during a Rose Garden event that he would impose 10% additional tariffs on all of the nation's trading partners; some countries will be hit with even higher rates.
Calling it 'Liberation Day,' Trump said the day would 'forever be remembered as the day that American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again.'
Read more: What Trump's planned tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts means for car buyers
Tariff-related price hike estimates vary depending on the vehicle, but most industry experts predict new cars will cost several thousand more.
Erin Keating, an executive analyst at Cox Automotive, expects new vehicle prices to go up by 15% to 20%. On Wednesday, Anderson Economic Group forecast car prices to increase $2,500 to $20,000. Vehicles expected to be hit hardest, the group said, include luxury sedans and SUVs manufactured by Audi, BMW, Jaguar-Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Genesis and Lexus.
With sticker prices expected to surge, many consumers across Southern California are trying to get deals done ahead of the Thursday deadline.
'It is a natural consumer behavior when people see an impending price change to race in and respond accordingly,' said Dominick Miserandino, a retail and consumer analyst and chief executive of Retail Tech Media Nexus.
There is an element of panic contributing to the increase in demand, he said.
'You're seeing it on a micro scale whenever someone posts online that they found a cheaper place to get eggs," Miserandino said.
At Culver City Honda, more than a dozen prospective car buyers were milling about the dealership lot or waiting in the lobby for an available sales representative mid-afternoon Tuesday.
'People are just rushing in here like crazy,' sales consultant Carlos Rodriguez said, a trend that began the day after Trump announced the autos tariff on March 26. 'We're used to selling let's say 10 cars a day; [now] we're getting into 20s. I know a lot of dealerships are hitting higher numbers.'
Outside, a car shopper named Rochelle was checking out a white CR-V.
"I should have done this a long time ago," she said. "I'm all for America first, but a lot of us don't like American cars."
Roughly half of the 16 million cars, SUVs and light trucks that Americans bought last year were imported, according to the White House. Vehicles in the United States are imported from Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Germany and other countries.
Read more: Trump declares 'Liberation Day,' announces sweeping global tariffs on 'friend and foe alike'
The Trump administration says it is imposing tariffs to strengthen national security and spur the growth of American jobs. Heavily taxing imported cars, the thinking goes, would put pressure on automakers to build manufacturing plants in the U.S.
'America cannot just be an assembler of foreign-made parts — we must become a manufacturing powerhouse that dominates every step of the supply chain of industries that are critical for our national security and economic interests,' White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.
But building more domestic plants takes years, and some companies are wary of shifting their supply chains to the United States because of regulatory uncertainty, economists said.
The 25% tariff will be applied to imported passenger vehicles (sedans, SUVs, crossovers, minivans and cargo vans) and light trucks, as well as key automobile parts (engines, transmissions, powertrain parts and electrical components), with the possibility of expanding the duty to include additional parts if necessary. The tariff on auto parts is set to take effect by May 3.
"President Trump is taking action to protect America's automobile industry, which is vital to national security and has been undermined by excessive imports threatening America's domestic industrial base and supply chains," the White House said.
Car dealerships across Southern California — home to car enthusiasts and one of the nation's largest auto markets — are unsure about what comes next. Some are preparing for spikes and drops in business as the global trade war plays out.
Rodriguez said Culver City Honda will have to increase prices, but he was hopeful that sales would remain strong as they did during the pandemic despite major supply-chain disruptions that led to skyrocketing car prices.
It's not just the automotive industry that is contending with tariff tumult. Businesses of all kinds — farmers, home builders, tech companies, winemakers, restaurants and apparel retailers — are reeling from weeks of on-again, off-again confusion as Trump has announced a slew of levies, many of them aimed at the country's top three trading partners. Some have been imposed, while others have been postponed, modified or reversed.
Read more: Stocking up for a cocktail crisis: How bars, distillers and tequila importers are bracing for a trade war
Bolstering the economy was one of Trump's promises during the election, and tariffs are a core part of his strategy. He threatened to slap tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on his first day back in office, explaining the decision as a way to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs.
In March, he wrote in a post on Truth Social that the U.S. 'doesn't have Free Trade. We have 'Stupid Trade.''
'The Entire World is RIPPING US OFF!!!' he said.
The prolonged back-and-forth has unsettled companies, both those that import goods from abroad and those that sell their products to foreign clients. California's economy could be especially hard hit because of its heavy reliance on trade with China and Mexico, and because of its position as a global agricultural powerhouse.
Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Bloomberg
24 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Iron Ore Seesaws as Traders Assess Trump's Tariff Announcements
Iron ore fluctuated as US President Donald Trump signaled he was open to more negotiations after he unveiled his first wave of letters threatening to impose higher tariffs. Futures of the steel-making ingredient reached as high as $95.75 a ton before paring gains as Trump teased the possibility of additional negotiations and delayed the new rates until Aug. 1 for all nations facing his 'reciprocal' tariffs.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Attention, Nvidia Shareholders: 1 Crucial Thing to Watch in the Second Half
Nvidia, after early headwinds, finished the first half of the year with a gain. The company reached a new milestone in recent days, one that could set the tone for share performance in the second half. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › The first half was a bit of a roller coaster ride for Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) shareholders. The stock slid almost 30% from the start of the year to early April amid a variety of concerns -- from the future of artificial intelligence (AI) spending to worries that President Trump's import tariffs would weigh on the economy and corporate earnings. Meanwhile, the company continued to launch its new Blackwell platform and delivered double-digit quarterly revenue growth. The message for future prospects is bright too, with Nvidia speaking of soaring demand in the area of AI inference and launching projects abroad such as the building of AI infrastructure in Abu Dhabi. All of this, along with an easing of international trade tensions, prompted investors to return to growth stocks, and one of their top picks has been Nvidia -- the stock finished the first half with a 17% gain. Now, as we head into the second half of the year, you may be wondering how Nvidia will fare -- here's one crucial element to watch. Nvidia has built an amazing success story over the years, transforming itself from a company that mainly served the video gaming market to one that's at the center of one of today's highest growth industries. The graphic processing unit (GPU) still is integral to video games, but Nvidia -- thanks to sales of GPUs and related products and services -- today generates most of its revenue from AI customers. For example, in the latest quarter, data center revenue made up 88% of total revenue. This AI giant entered the AI market in its earliest days and aggressively built an empire. Today, selling the world's top-performing GPUs, Nvidia dominates the AI chip market and has pledged to update its chips -- and often complete architecture -- on an annual basis. It launched this annual rhythm with the Blackwell architecture and chip in the fourth quarter of last year -- the rollout went smoothly, Nvidia maintained gross margin in its forecast range, and Blackwell delivered $11 billion in revenue during its first quarter of commercialization. That represented a successful start to this fast-paced innovation plan, and this brings me to the point to watch now -- a new milestone for Nvidia -- as the second half begins. Nvidia's next launch is Blackwell Ultra, and it's already started as cloud player CoreWeave just announced the availability of the platform. CoreWeave now is offering customers access to GB300 NVL72, a system that's a step up from the original Blackwell and a leap from the Hopper architecture -- that was the main Nvidia architecture in use before the original Blackwell launch this winter. GB300 NVL72 may provide a fiftyfold jump in output for reasoning model inference compared to Hopper. Now, the point to watch is this Blackwell Ultra rollout, with special attention to demand and whether the process is smooth or not. And once earnings season rolls around, it will be important to look at sales figures as well as gross margin. If this latest update mirrors the Blackwell launch, investors may have something to cheer about -- and we'll have reason to be optimistic about the next chip launches too. Nvidia will have proved its ability to successfully handle frequent chip releases and maintain strong growth and profitability on sales. If there's a glitch along the way or if Nvidia misses a financial goal, then it will be important to dig deeper and examine whether this was just a one-time problem or something that could persist through the next product launches. This is crucial for Nvidia because its market leadership depends on this ability to innovate and successfully roll out a new product. Demand for Blackwell this winter, with it exceeding supply at certain moments, shows us customers are eager to get their hands on the next Nvidia innovation. That's positive, but Nvidia must smoothly deliver on promises in order to keep this momentum going. So far, with the Blackwell launch as a reference point, there's reason to be optimistic. And if Nvidia scores a win with the Blackwell Ultra launch too, the company could see its stock continue to march higher in the second half. Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $699,558!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $976,677!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025 Adria Cimino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Attention, Nvidia Shareholders: 1 Crucial Thing to Watch in the Second Half was originally published by The Motley Fool


CNBC
38 minutes ago
- CNBC
CNBC Daily Open: Trump's tariff letters set the heart racing, but don't seem to promise anything new
Paramours wanting to court each other have, through the decades, moved on from courtly love letters to raunchy Instagram DMs. But some form of that epistolary tradition remains today in the stately realm of politics. U.S. President Donald Trump revealed Monday that he had written letters to the leaders of 12 countries, informing them of new tariff rates due to begin on Aug. 1. Upon first reading, the letter is enough to send the heart racing. It contains bold emotional declarations ("You will never be disappointed with The United States of America"), big double-digit numbers (between 25% and 40%, depending on the recipient) and a veiled threat should desire not be reciprocated ("These tariffs may be modified … depending on our relationship with your Country"). But if we take a step back, it appears that he letters' purpose might not be that different from the table of "reciprocal" tariffs Trump hoisted up at the White House's Rose Garden in April. The letters threaten stiff tariffs that will kick in on a certain date (or as certain as any deadline from the White House can be), unless countries negotiate with the U.S. for a trade deal. Even the tariff numbers aren't that far from what was initially revealed. In other words, the letters might just be a restaging of April's events. "If you go through the details, I don't even know if anybody understands the difference between what was announced today, what was there previously, and if it will actually be implemented, and which companies it actually impacts," Trivariate Research CEO Adam Parker said Monday on CNBC's "Closing Bell." Trump on Sunday, in response to whether the deadline for tariffs will be changing, said, "They're going to be tariffs. The tariffs are going to be the tariffs." In the same way, a tariff is a tariff is a tariff, whether in a racy letter, stated on a big chart, or even sent in an Instagram DM. Steep tariffs on 14 countries. The White House sent letters to leaders of several countries announcing blanket tariffs ranging from 25% to 40% starting Aug. 1. Notably, U.S. imports from Japan and South Korea face a 25% duty. U.S. markets fall on stiff tariffs. All major U.S. indexes ended in the red in their worst day in almost a month. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.44%. Oil and gas stocks fell after the OPEC+ alliance on Saturday agreed to a bigger-than-expected production increase. Tesla loses more than $68 billion in value. Shares of the electric vehicle maker tumbled 6.8% after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Saturday he was forming a new U.S. political party. Investors are worried about Musk heading deeper into politics. Samsung Electronics forecasts a 56% fall in profits. Second-quarter operating profit is expected to come in around 4.6 trillion Korean won ($3.3 billion), a steep decline from 10.44 trillion won a year ago. The firm's estimate is even lower than analyst expectations. [PRO] Safe spots in the Chinese market. While the China technology story hasn't changed enough to warrant major changes to portfolios, analysts are encouraging investors to be more conservative as they gear up for the second half. This Chinese jeweler is using traditional techniques to challenge Cartier — and it's starting in Singapore Laopu Gold opened its first overseas store in Singapore on June 21, just outside the Marina Bay Sands casino. During the first two weekends, wait times stretched from one to two hours, according to an employee. The Chinese jeweler has excited investors with its surging China sales — up 166% to 9.8 billion yuan ($1.37 billion) in 2024, according to its annual report. The company's shares have skyrocketed by well over 2,000% since its public offering price of HK$40.50 in Hong Kong in June 2024.