President Donald Trump, in a post Monday on his Truth Social platform, announced a 25% tariff on "all Medium and Heavy Duty Trucks coming into the United States from other Countries." This measure represents a roughly 30-day delay from tariffs that were scheduled to begin last week but now include medium-duty trucks, which were not part of the previously announced tax plan.
"In order to protect our Great Heavy Truck Manufacturers from unfair outside competition, I will be imposing, as of October 1st, 2025, a 25% Tariff on all 'Heavy (Big!) Trucks' made in other parts of the World," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Sept. 25 announcing the tariffs. "Therefore, our Great Large Truck Company Manufacturers, such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks, and others, will be protected from the onslaught of outside interruptions. We need our Truckers to be financially healthy and strong, for many reasons, but above all else, for National Security purposes!"
Still more questions than answers
While the 31-day delay did provide more time, the absence of a formal policy didn't provide more clarity. OEMs contacted by CCJ Monday said they still had no clear direction or firm details.
"We’re continuing to work toward a better understanding of how enforcement will be handled," a Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) spokesperson told CCJ Monday afternoon.
Similarly, a spokesperson for International Motors told CCJ Monday that the company hasn't received any details regarding compliance since Trump's original social media announcement in September.
A 25% duty on commercial trucks is likely to send prices skyrocketing. Truck and trailer payments are already at record high levels, according to ATRI research, having jumped nearly 9% last year over 2023.
The White House failed to respond to questions from CCJ last month about whether this new tariff will be levied on top of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA), if those trucks will remain exempt as long as 75% of the value in materials and labor is sourced from North America, or whether the new tariff includes parts.
In a follow up email Monday afternoon asking why medium-duty trucks were added in the second announcement but originally omitted, CCJ received an out-of-office-type email citing "staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown," that likely would delay response. Medium-duty trucks and truck parts were issues raised in the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Section 232 National Security Investigation of Imports of Trucks earlier this year.
While Trump has billed the new tariff as one that protects truck makers "from the onslaught of outside interruptions" and supports truckers' financial health, much of the industry—including the American Trucking Associations, the Truckload Carriers Association, DTNA, International Motors, and Volvo Group—opposed them in comments to the Security Section 232 investigation.
Paccar, which builds more than 98% of its heavy-duty, on-highway Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks for the U.S. market in the United States and is a net U.S. exporter of heavy-duty vehicles, was the only "Big Four" manufacturer to support new tariffs during the public comment period in May.
All the major North American heavy-truck manufacturers are global companies with assembly operations in the U.S., but many supplement those plants with sister facilities in Mexico. Under the USMCA free trade agreement—a deal Trump signed in 2018 that went into effect in 2020, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)—those trucks have generally been allowed into the U.S. tariff-free, but recent diplomatic history suggests that is about to change.
Jason Miller, Eli Broad Professor of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University, said he was "skeptical domestic production would expand to handle all demand, as this would represent a huge capital investment need during a period of weaker demand."
