Media Tip Sheets

Automotive Tariff Expert Available

Monday, March 10, 2025, By Ellen Mbuqe
Reporters looking experts to discuss automotive tariffs, please consider Terence Lau, Dean of the College of Law at Syracuse University.
Dean Lau began his career in the Office of the General Counsel at Ford Motor Company in the International Trade and Transactions practice group. His practice focused on U.S. law for foreign affiliates and subsidiaries, among other topics. Later he served as Ford’s Director for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Government Affairs.
He offered a few comments after the administration granted a one-month exemption on tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers.
  • “The United States imports completely assembled vehicles from Mexico, Japan, Canada, S. Korea, Germany, UK, Slovakia, Italy, Sweden, China, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, South Africa, Netherlands. In each of these cases, the US runs a trade deficit in vehicles, (i.e. we import more from that country than we export). If the goal is to bring vehicle manufacturing jobs back to the US, then tariffs would need to be imposed on all these countries, or at least the top volume countries. Otherwise, companies like Toyota can shift imports from Canada to Japan, or BMW can shift imports from Mexico to Germany,” said Lau.
  • “It will take time to make these shifts, as many factories are capacity constrained. Automakers like building in the USA because it is a large market. That is why so many plants have opened in the deep south. They didn’t need tariff protection to be convinced to build in the USA. USMCA led to more union jobs in the USA, not less. It created a bigger pie in all 3 countries,” said Lau.
  • “The automobile industry is not a zero sum game. It takes many years to build new vehicle factories along with supply chains. A 25% tariff is more than the profit margin on most mass-produced vehicles. Tariffs on Canada and Mexico will impact automakers differently, and will impact products in different segments differently. Therefore, consumers will see some models become more expensive than others. Whenever tariffs are in place and prices rise, domestic producers tend to take advantage of this by also raising their prices, capturing greater profit. Therefore, a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico is not likely to lead to widespread new investment in auto factories in the US, it will lead to higher vehicle prices, and will make winners and losers out of certain brands overnight, without regard to the competitiveness or attractiveness of a particular product,” said Lau.
To schedule for an interview, please contact executive director of media relations Ellen James Mbuqe at ejmbuqe@syr.edu.