Audi holds cars at US ports as Trump tariffs take effect

Audi has declared that all vehicles bound for the United States which arrived after April 2nd are being placed in U.S. ports for storage. The announcement by Audi follows President Donald Trump’s declaration about the 25% auto import tax as companies within the industry react to new duty considerations.

Volkswagen brand’s U.S. inventory contains 37,000 vehicles sufficient to meet sales requirements for about two months according to Volkswagen spokesperson.

The new trade war poses a significant threat to Audi because its hit U.S. model Q5 originates from Mexico factories. All Audi models available to U.S. customers originate from European production plants and other foreign manufacturing sites.

Audi delivered a memo to its dealers ordering them to suspend all deliveries of new vehicles starting April 2nd indefinitely. The company spokesperson provided official confirmation regarding the document.

Industry data from Cox Automotive shows that American automakers hold approximately 2.5 months of automobile inventory at any given time. The existing inventory allows companies to operate at normal capacity until they develop permanent solutions to the trade complexities.

Automotive executives prepared to discuss the situation with EU President Ursula von der Leyen during their meeting later today. European leaders will meet today to plan a common trade strategy toward the imposed tariffs while investors worry about price increases and decreased market demand and warn about economic global slowdown based on European share value declines.