On October 7, 2024, Republican presidential candidate Trump made a promise at a rally at Juno Airport in Wisconsin, stating that if elected president, he would impose a 200% tariff on cars imported from Mexico. This doubles the previously proposed tariff rate of 100%.
During the campaign rally, Trump stated, “If necessary, we will impose a 200% tariff. We will not allow this situation to occur, we will not allow those cars to enter the United States.”
Trump had previously promised that if he re-enters the White House, he would impose a 100% tariff on imported cars and trucks to protect the U.S. automotive industry. However, on Sunday, he further announced a policy to increase tariffs, raising them to 200%. Experts believe that this tariff plan could increase the price of cars since in 2023, Mexico exported about 3 million cars to the United States, with the Big Three Detroit automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) accounting for half of them.
The Washington think tank, the Tax Policy Center, also estimates that imposing new tariffs on cars imported from Mexico on a large scale could increase the cost of cars, affecting all types of vehicles, including domestic, imported, used, and new cars.
With less than a month until election day, Trump held four rallies in Wisconsin within 8 days. His Democratic opponent, Harris, will also hold a rally in Wisconsin on Thursday, alongside Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney.
It is expected that both Trump and Harris will devote significant time, money, and resources to Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to compete for electoral votes in those states. In 2016, Trump won the presidency by sweeping the electoral votes in these states, defeating the then-Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. However, four years later, Biden won those states.
According to polls, Harris is slightly ahead in the support rate in Wisconsin.
During his nearly two-hour speech in Juno, Trump criticized the Biden administration’s emergency response to Hurricane Helen, which resulted in 227 deaths and left hundreds of thousands without power. Trump said, “This is the worst response to a storm, disaster, or hurricane that we have ever seen.”
FEMA director Deanne Criswell defended FEMA’s capabilities on Sunday, stating that FEMA has sufficient resources to carry out disaster relief work. She also dismissed claims by some Republicans that FEMA funds have been diverted to undocumented immigrants as unfounded.