The whole fight is over how much of a car counts as American. Photo: General Motors
In today's issue:
Canada's 50% tariff deadline lands tonight, and autos are the reason there is no agreement
Auto manufacturing employment keeps falling while the tariffs are sold as a jobs program
Stellantis recalls nearly a million vehicles because of a radio, not a camera
MIDNIGHT MATH
Trump and Carney spoke by phone on Aug. 17, a little more than 24 hours before the US is due to impose 50% duties on Canadian goods including milk, beer, plywood and hockey equipment, per Automotive News. The order rests on the Tariff Act of 1930 and takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Washington time on Aug. 19, covering roughly $20 billion of products, per Transport Topics.
Vehicles are not on that 50% list, which is easy to misread, because one of the proclamations is titled for motor vehicles. It names Canada's tariffs on US vehicles as the grievance and then carves the cars themselves back out: the duties "shall not apply to articles subject to duties pursuant to section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962," which is the authority already taxing imported cars and parts at 25%, per the Federal Register. Automotive rules are still the obstacle blocking an agreement, per Automotive News.
The existing auto tariff is 25%, with a Canada and Mexico break scaled to US parts content, so an Ontario-built vehicle with half US content carries an effective 12.5% rate. Canada pushed for a 10% headline rate or a wider exemption, and the administration has held firm at a minimum of 15%. We covered the White House push for 82% North American content earlier this summer.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer wants Canada to drop every retaliation measure, including its counter-tariffs on US vehicles and provincial bans on retail sales of American alcohol. Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his province's ban stays until the US gives significant relief on tariffs.
GM, Ford and Stellantis all build in Canada but accounted for less than a quarter of the vehicles made there last year. Toyota and Honda build the rest, which is why protecting the Japanese automakers is a priority for the Carney government.
A 15% levy on non-US content works out to an effective 7% to 9% depending on the model, per Greig Mordue, a former Toyota executive now teaching at McMaster University. His concern is not tonight, it is permanence: "If you seal it with this permanency of 15%, or whatever they land on, then that seals the long-term future of the Canadian auto industry." Whatever number gets signed becomes the opening baseline for next year's USMCA review.
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Also worth knowing
Auto Jobs Keep Falling Despite the Tariffs Meant to Save Them: President Trump posted "Manufacturing is BOOMING!" on social media, but Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows auto manufacturing employment declining, per Automotive News. The tariff policy sold as a jobs program isn't showing up in the jobs data. #analyst
Carvana Buyers Are Paying More Than the Dealer Down the Street: Carvana priced eight models above local dealership competitors between May 7 and Aug. 5, per a Catalyst IQ analysis cited by Automotive News. Carvana still posted all-time records for revenue, net income and retail units sold in Q2, per WardsAuto, meaning convenience is beating price and buyers are paying for it. #market
A Carvana car vending machine in Dallas. Photo: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Nevada Capped Tesla's Robotaxi Fleet at 10. Zoox Is Already Running Fifty.: Nevada approved Tesla's Las Vegas robotaxi application in a permit dated July 27 but limited the fleet to 10 vehicles against the 5,000 Tesla requested, with a 45 mph ceiling and no airport pickups, per Electrek and Electrive. Amazon's Zoox holds the state's first such permit, was cleared for up to 100 vehicles in a July 16 amendment, and is already running about 50 on the Strip and charging fares, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal. #market
A Tesla Cybercab on a San Francisco street. Nevada approved ten Tesla robotaxis against the 5,000 the company asked for. Photo: 9yz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Reveals & culture
The Ferrari Enzo's Designer Built His Own V12, and It's a Manual: Ken Okuyama's Kode89 pairs a naturally aspirated V12 with a six-speed gated manual and roughly 750 hp, capped at eight units total, with year one already sold out, per Motor1 and Carscoops. #enthusiast
Ken Okuyama's Kode89, eight units, gated manual. Photo: Ken Okuyama Design
Ford's Le Mans Hypercar Finally Turned a Wheel, and It's Loud: Ford's LMDh prototype hit Circuit Paul Ricard for its first track test, running a 5.4-liter Coyote-derived V8 paired to a spec hybrid system ahead of the 2027 WEC season and 24 Hours of Le Mans, per americancarsandracing.com. #enthusiast
Ford's LMDh prototype on its first run at Circuit Paul Ricard. Photo: Ford
Toyota Sold Out the GR GT Without Taking Orders: Toyota earmarked 200 to 250 GR GTs for the US and the first allocation is already gone, per The Drive. Senior VP Andrew Gilleland said the scarcity is deliberate: "We're not going to have enough to meet demand, and that's by design," and "We don't want to sell cars to flippers, we only want people who are going to drive it." At The Quail, more than 150 potential buyers sat down to configure cars while Toyota was not taking orders. One more tell from the Laguna Seca briefing: a Toyota representative called the hybrid motor's 40 hp "less than five percent of the total power," but 40 is over 6% of the quoted 641 hp, which means the final number is going up, per Road & Track. #enthusiast
The GR GT. Around 200 to 250 are coming to the US and the first allocation is spoken for. Photo: Toyota
Recalls & legal action
850,000 Jeeps, Rams, Dodges and Chryslers Can Lose Their Backup Camera: Stellantis is recalling 848,511 US vehicles from model years 2026 and 2027 after a radio software fault can prevent the rearview camera image from displaying, per Kelley Blue Book and Autoblog. The global total is 955,000 vehicles, per Just Auto, and the fix is an over-the-air update, no dealer visit required. → If you own one: Check for the OTA notification now; if your backup camera goes blank, look up your VIN on Stellantis's recall site rather than waiting for the update to arrive automatically.
The display in question. A radio software fault can stop the image appearing at all. Photo: Stellantis
Quick links
Defender Dakar Reservations Open in Early 2027: Land Rover has put a date on the road-legal Dakar, the rally-winning Defender Land Rover revealed last week: reservations open early 2027, per Car and Driver. The mechanical package is unchanged from the reveal.
Toyota's Plug-In Hybrids Jumped 157% Because It Finally Sold Them Everywhere: Toyota and Lexus plug-in hybrid sales are up 38% this year and 157% in July, and the cause is distribution rather than a shift in taste: the cars are now sold in all 50 states instead of only the 12 that follow California's ZEV rules, per Automotive News via Autoblog. The category around them is shrinking, though. Plug-in hybrids were 1.1% of US light-vehicle sales through June against 1.8% in 2025, per Mobility Global, and Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and Kia have pulled PHEVs from the US. Toyota is taking a bigger share of a smaller room, the same pattern as Toyota's US EV sales climbing 136%.
Mercedes Refreshes the C-Class Ahead of BMW's Next 3 Series: The 2027 C-Class gets what Mercedes calls the most comprehensive technical upgrade in the model's history, plus electrified engines and new styling, per Autoblog and Mercedes-Benz Media.
Yesterday's picks
Geely's Q2 Profit Jumped 36%. Its Home Market Just Cratered 20%.: Geely Automobile's Q2 net income climbed 36% to 4.9 billion yuan ($727 million), matching analyst estimates, per Automotive News Europe.
Germany's Car Industry Just Posted Its Lowest Headcount Since 2005: German automotive employment fell by 42,300, or 5.8%, over the past year to 691,500, the lowest since 2005 and a faster decline than any other German industrial sector, per Reuters. Parts and accessories suppliers were cut hardest at 7.6%, against 6.1% at the manufacturers themselves, so the tier that supplies everyone is shrinking faster than any single badge.
Kia and Hyundai Mobis Will Pay $11.5 Million Over How They Recruited Foreign Engineers: US District Judge Leigh Martin May approved an $11.5 million class-action settlement for Mexican engineers who said they were recruited under false pretenses to work in Georgia, in a case that named Hyundai Mobis, Kia Georgia and a staffing agency, per CBS News Atlanta. It settles rather than sets precedent, but it puts a number on getting cross-border recruitment terms wrong as automakers lean harder on foreign engineering staff to hit US production timelines.
More from Suspension
Earlier: Tesla Expands Robotaxi to All of Austin, but Still Has Only ~20 Cars, in the Jun 4 issue
Earlier: Tesla's robotaxi fleet passes 380,000 miles, in the Jul 26 issue
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