Volkswagen Announces Its Response to Trump's Tariffs

In the wake of President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, Volkswagen is adding a new fee to its vehicles. The German automaker told its dealers that later this month, an import fee will be added to the price of cars sold in the United States. The New York Times calls it "one of the first and clearest examples" of how automakers will deal with Trump's 25% tariffs on imports of cars, which took effect Thursday, and auto parts, which will take effect next month. VW also told dealers it has stopped rail shipments of cars to the US from Mexico for now, and will temporarily hold cars arriving from Europe at port, the Wall Street Journal reports.

"We want to be very transparent about navigating through this time of uncertainty," the automaker said in its announcement to dealers. What's expected from some other carmakers:

• Stellantis (owner of Jeep, Ram, Dodge, and Chrysler) is temporarily stopping production at two plants in Mexico and Canada.
• Mercedes-Benz is considering halting imports of its least expensive cars, Car and Driver reports.
• BMW will cover tariff fees for cars built in Mexico, but only until next month.
• Ferrari raised the cost of some of its cars by 10%.
• Ford and Nissan are actually lowering some prices, at least for now, and Genesis, Hyundai, and General Motors have not announced any changes yet.

(More Volkswagen stories.)