There's A List Of The Car Parts Affected By Trump's Tariffs — Surprise! It's Basically Everything

President Trump's sweeping tariffs started going into effect this week, already tanking the U.S. stock market and threatening to do the same for the rest of the world, and the automotive industry is getting hit hard. In addition to specific tariffs on all imported vehicles, these Republican tariffs also apply to car parts and components. That's, uhh, not good. Last month we detailed the convoluted journey of just one car part to production; even if a part is made in America it still might need to be shipped somewhere else, sometimes crossing borders multiple times. An engine or vehicle assembled in the U.S. will still be made up of foreign parts.

Automotive News looked through Trump's tariff proclamation and the U.S.' Harmonized Tariff Schedule to find out what automotive parts will be subject to the tariffs, coming up with what it calls "a nonexhaustive list." That government document is 4,398 pages long, and I truly don't have the mental strength to look through it myself and see what items AN might have missed, if anything. Even if this list is potentially incomplete, though, it should give you an idea of how royally screwed we are.

In terms of powertrain, engine, and transmission parts, these are items now subject to the new duties, in alphabetical order: Catalytic converters or particulate filters, clutches, electric motors, fuel-injection pumps for compression-ignition engines, gear boxes, generators, ignition coils, lead-acid storage batteries, lithium-ion batteries, magnetic flywheels, oil or fuel filters, radiators, spark plugs, transmission shafts, and turbochargers and superchargers. Oh, and of course, compression-ignition internal combustion piston engines and spark-ignition reciprocating or rotary internal combustion engines.

Yeah, not exactly. That was just one category of parts that are affected by these tariffs. You've also got suspension items like leaf springs, shock absorbers, and other suspension system components. In the driving and steering category, there are axles, brake hoses, inner tubes of rubber, new tires, road wheels, steering wheels, and vibration control. For safety parts, you're looking at airbags, bumpers, defrosters and demisters, lighting equipment, locks, rearview mirrors, safety glass, seat belts, signal flashers, windshields, and windshield wipers.

Finally, in AN's miscellaneous category there are air conditioners, cameras, insulated wire, jacks, numerical controls, radios, seats, speedometers, and sound signaling equipment. We do know the tariffs won't apply to imported steel and aluminum, which make up the construction of almost every vehicle, so that's good, and there are some exemptions for computer chips and other tech items, which every car has. But who knows what could get changed, and what else could get affected by these tariffs.