"It has never been more expensive to buy a new car. The average transaction price last month for buyers in the United States was $48,576, up nearly a third from 2019, according to Edmunds. The "affordable" car-$20,000 or less- is dead. The high prices have been pinned on plenty of economic dynamics: lingering pandemic-era supply chain issues, the introduction of expensive technology into everyday cars, higher labor and raw materials costs, and new tariffs by the Trump administration affecting imported steel, aluminum, and cars themselves."
"The Supreme Court's decision gets in the way of the president's power to use the International Emergency Economic Power Act, or IEEPA, to levy tariffs in response to emergencies. Trump used this power to apply tariffs to countries around the globe, the emergency being "large and persistent" trade deficits. The administration applied other new duties on Canada, China, and Mexico because of what it called emergencies related to the flow of migrants and drugs into the United States."
New-car prices in the United States have surged to an average transaction price of $48,576, nearly one-third higher than 2019, and cars priced $20,000 or less have effectively disappeared. Price pressures stem from lingering pandemic-era supply-chain disruptions, costly technology integration in vehicles, higher labor and raw-materials costs, and tariffs imposed by the prior administration. A Supreme Court ruling limits presidential use of IEEPA to impose tariffs, but most auto-related duties come from section 232 and remain in effect, including 15% tariffs on cars from Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Automakers have absorbed some costs, but the industry cost structure remains intact, constraining near-term consumer relief.
Read at WIRED
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