Even as President Donald Trump pushes a message of self-sacrifice when it comes to how many dolls American children should own, his administration’s first trade “deal” includes a carveout for cars – luxury ones.
Trump on Thursday hailed the fact that the US-UK framework for trade talks calls for lowering tariffs on UK cars, saying it wasn’t his intention to persuade “super-luxury” brands including Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Jaguar to build cars in the United States.
According to a fact sheet shared by the White House, the Trump administration has already agreed to lower tariffs on the first 100,000 UK vehicles imported into the United States each year to 10%. Additional vehicles face a 25% tariff.
“We took it from 25 to 10 on Rolls-Royce because Rolls-Royce is not gonna be built here. I wouldn’t even ask them to do that. You know, it’s a very special car and it’s a very limited number too,” Trump said, announcing the agreement with Britain in the Oval Office.
During the same event, Trump floated slapping a 100% tariff on toys made by Mattel and attacked the company’s CEO after the Barbie and Hot Wheels maker said its toys couldn’t be manufactured in America and still be sold at affordable prices.
The United Kingdom exported only about 90,000 cars to the United States last year, according to S&P Global Mobility, making it the sixth-largest source of imported vehicles, responsible for only 1% of imported cars.
US Commerce Department data showed that the value of cars imported from the UK came to $12.3 billion, meaning that the average price of a British import was more than $135,000.
“It’s not… one of the monster car companies that makes millions of cars. They make a very small number of cars that are super-luxury and that includes Bentley and Jaguar… some very special cars,” Trump said. “That’s really… handmade stuff and they’ve been doing it for a long time in the same location,” he added, noting that he wanted to help the makers of such cars.
Other luxury British car brands that could benefit from the lowered tariffs include Land Rover, Aston Martin and Mini.
That means Trump has made it cheaper to import cars that relatively few Americans buy – or, for that matter, can afford – while keeping tariffs for now on more popular and affordable brands, mostly imported from countries other than the UK.
“Laser focused on reducing prices for everyday Americans from Day One,” University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers posted on X, “the President has struck a deal that will lower the price of Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Jaguars, Aston Martin’s, Range Rovers and Minis.”
Wolfers noted that “no other consumer good received carveouts” from the US-UK trade framework.
Meanwhile, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz said it’s unlikely Trump’s tariffs will cause toy manufacturing to come to America.
“We don’t see that happening,” the Mattel CEO told CNBC after the company warned that tariffs will increase toy prices for American consumers.
Trump fired back, saying: “We’ll put a 100% tariff on his toys, and he won’t sell one toy in the United States, and that’s their biggest market.” Trump added: “I wouldn’t wanna have him as an executive too long.”
Of course, a 100% tariff on America’s leading toy company would likely cause an even bigger jump in toy prices charged to US consumers. It could also make it very difficult or virtually impossible for parents to buy new Barbies and other toys. Retailers typically start stocking up over the summer for the holiday shopping season.
Ken Griffin, the hedge fund billionaire who backed Trump in the 2024 election, told CNBC this week that tariffs are a “painfully regressive tax” that will “hit the pocketbook of hardworking Americans the hardest.”
In an interview with Politico, Griffin added that “tariffs open the door to crony capitalism,” with the government picking winners and losers. “I thought this would play out over the course of years. It’s terrifying to watch this play out over the course of weeks,” he said.
CNN’s Maria Sole Campinoti contributed to this report.
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