Trump Says 30% Tariff Is Coming To European, Mexican-made Cars On August 1

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Good morning! It's Monday, July 14, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your regular roundup of nan apical automotive headlines from astir nan world, successful 1 place. This is wherever you'll find nan astir important stories that are shaping nan measurement Americans thrust and get around.

In this morning's edition, Trump sets a caller day for tariffs against vehicles made successful nan EU and Mexico, Elon Musk says he doesn't want Tesla and xAI to merge, GM idles its motortruck works successful Mexico, and Land Rover recalls thousands of Range Rover Evoques for an airbag issue.

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If you were tired of hearing astir tariffs, past I've sewage immoderate bad news for you. President Trump conscionable unveiled his latest information of tariff ultimatum, mounting a 30% work connected things made successful Mexico and nan European Union. He sees to beryllium going pinch nan "never fto 'em cognize your adjacent move" method of haphazard negotiation.

The President announced nan changes successful 2 letters posted connected societal media complete nan weekend. He informed immoderate very important waste and acquisition partners that nan caller rates would footwear successful connected August 1 if they could not discuss amended terms. His past fewer weeks person been divided betwixt this confusing (and expensive) shuffling of tariffs and dodging questions astir Jeffrey Epstein. These latest levels are tweaked from nan tariff levels he projected successful April. From Automotive News:

The EU had been hoping to reason a tentative woody pinch nan U.S. to stave disconnected higher tariffs, but Trump's missive punctured nan caller optimism successful Brussels complete nan prospects for an 11th-hour statement betwixt nan awesome economies.

Trump did, however, time off an opening for further adjustments.

"If you wish to unfastened your heretofore closed Trading Market to nan United States, and destruct your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policy and Trade Barriers, we will, perhaps, see an accommodation to this letter," Trump wrote.

The tariff rates would use widely, though abstracted from nan president's sectoral tariffs connected products specified arsenic automobiles and steel. If implemented, it could spot nan EU astatine a competitory disadvantage connected American exports to nan neighboring U.K., which near nan bloc successful 2020 and was nan first state to travel to a top-line waste and acquisition pact pinch Trump.

Germany's VDA car relation tells AutoNews that location is still nary solution to easing nan existent 27.5% work connected cars imported from nan EU to nan U.S. At nan aforesaid time, European automakers are still holding retired dream (such a silly move) that nan 2 entities tin scope immoderate benignant of statement to little car import tariffs, perchance including a alleged "netting mechanism" to offset imports pinch exports. Something for illustration this could beryllium based connected nan worth of exports retired of nan U.S. market, alternatively than nan number of exported vehicles.

In Mexico, Trump wants President Claudia Sheinbaum to proceed supporting nan securing of nan separator betwixt nan 2 North American countries.

Trump added that if Mexico "is successful successful challenging nan cartels and stopping nan travel of Fentanyl," nan U.S. would see adjusting nan levies.

"These tariffs whitethorn beryllium modified, upward aliases downward, depending connected our narration pinch your country," he added.

The missive is silent connected whether nan U.S. will sphere a carve-out for equipment traded nether nan USMCA waste and acquisition deal, which person been exempt from nan existent 25 percent rate. The management has antecedently said it will support nan exemption for Canada.

Other countries Trump has pointed to for tariff hikes successful caller days include South Korea, South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia, arsenic good arsenic Algeria, Libya, Iraq, and Sri Lanka. 

What is bro doing?

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he does not support a merger betwixt nan automaker and his artificial intelligence start-up, xAI, which owns nan Grok chatbot that has been having immoderate awesome issues pinch racism, sexism, homophobia, and antisemitism lately. 

This news comes aft Musk announced that Grok was connected its measurement to being implemented successful Tesla vehicles, thing I've sewage nary uncertainty would spell wholly smoothly. From Reuters:

In consequence to a personification station connected X that asked Tesla investors if they supported a merger betwixt nan 2 companies, Musk replied "No."

On Sunday, Musk had said he would inquire Tesla shareholders to ballot whether Tesla tin put successful xAI, aft earlier saying "it would beryllium great" if Tesla could do so.

[...]

xAI acquired X, formerly called Twitter and besides owned by Musk, successful a $33 cardinal woody successful March this year, valuing nan mixed group astatine $80 cardinal astatine nan time.

Sources told Reuters successful June that xAI had been successful talks to raise money astatine a valuation of much than $120 billion, while a valuation of arsenic precocious arsenic $200 cardinal was besides discussed.

The Wall Street Journal reported connected Saturday that Musk's SpaceX had committed $2 cardinal to xAI arsenic portion of a $5 cardinal equity round.

The measurement Elon's companies put successful each other benignant of makes maine consciousness for illustration rearranging deckchairs connected nan Titanic. It's rather nan masterful gambit by Musk.

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General Motors says it is idling accumulation astatine a pickup motortruck works successful Silao, Mexico — wherever it builds nan Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra — for respective weeks. The works was down for nan first 2 weeks of July, and it's scheduled to beryllium idled again nan weeks of August 4 and August 11. From Automotive News:

"Scheduled down weeks astatine GM Silao are portion of a modular operating process focused connected optimizing accumulation astatine our manufacturing complex," GM said successful consequence to a Reuters inquiry.

The Silverado and mechanically akin Sierra are by acold GM's apical sellers successful nan U.S., and awesome profit generators. GM besides builds nan Silverado and Sierra astatine factories successful Fort Wayne, Ind., Flint, Mich. and Ontario, Canada.

It is communal for automakers to halt mill activity to execute attraction aliases set assembly lines for exemplary changes. Most of GM's U.S. factories were not operating past week arsenic portion of a accustomed down week for nan July 4 holiday.

Trucks for illustration nan Sierra and Silverado — among immoderate of nan best-selling vehicles successful America — are perfectly important for GM. The automaker sold 278,599 Silverados and 166,409 Sierras successful nan first half of 2025. Those numbers correspond a 2% and 12% respective summation successful income complete nan aforesaid play successful 2024. Any downtime seems judge to wounded income efforts.

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Jaguar Land Rover – which recently resumed shipping vehicles to nan U.S. — is recalling U.S.-market Range Rover Evoques built betwixt 2021 and 2025 because nan beforehand rider airbag could tear during deployment. Obviously, that's not ideal, and it could lead to a further consequence of wounded successful a clang if nan basking gases wrong nan container escape. From AutoEvolution:

[T]he airbag module successful mobility is produced by nan Hungarian limb of Joyson Safety Systems.

[...]

Jaguar Land Rover started looking into this matter successful May 2023, pursuing a number of reports from nan shaper of nan fascia assembly complete abnormal beforehand rider airbag deployments. After galore analyses and overmuch investigation, nan British automaker concluded successful June 2025 that nan airbag worldly showed variability successful nan folds of fishy airbags.

The Recall Determination Committee yet decided connected a information callback connected June 30, 2025. Thankfully for some customers and JLR's ineligible team, Jaguar Land Rover is not alert of immoderate reported injuries resulting from this concern. The callback archiving revenge pinch nan National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not explicitly authorities really nan supplier corrected this information successful airbag accumulation aliases if nan remedy modules travel from a different supplier.

Owners and lessees will person nan perchance faulty airbag modules replaced astatine Land Rover dealerships, who will beryllium informed nary later than July 21. Owners tin expect to beryllium notified by message connected aliases earlier August 25. In total, 20,999 Evoques are being recalled, according to Reuters.

History.com

We really don't talk capable astir really chaotic it is that ol' Gerry Ford was capable to go nan freaking President without receiving a azygous vote. The man was conscionable built different. If you want to study much astir our 38th President (and nan 2nd who shared a sanction pinch a car brand), caput complete to History.com.

There's nary amended opus successful nan world for hanging successful nan area pinch your 5 champion friends and jamming out.