Evelyn Reynolds

“Prices are going to shoot up now,” one shopper said. But some dealers said that economic concerns might be keeping people away.Ziggy Duchnowski spent Saturday morning car shopping along Northern Boulevard in Queens with two goals in mind.He wanted to find a new small car for his wife, and he hoped to strike a deal before the new tariffs that President Trump is imposing on imported cars and trucks affect prices.“The word on the street is prices are going to shoot up now,” said Mr. Duchnowski, 45, a union carpenter who voted for Mr. Trump, holding the hands of his two small children.The tariffs — 25 percent on vehicles and parts produced outside the United States — will have a broad impact on the North American auto industry. They are supposed to go into effect on April 3 and are sure to raise the prices of new cars and trucks.They will also force automakers to adjust their North American manufacturing operations and scramble to find ways to cut costs to offset the tariffs. And for now at least, they are spurring some consumers to buy vehicles before sticker prices jump.Analysts estimate that the tariffs will significantly increase the prices of new vehicles, adding a few thousand dollars for entry-level models to $10,000 or more for high-end cars and trucks. Higher prices for new vehicles are also likely to nudge used-car prices higher.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

The move added to the list of actions by President Trump that use the powers of his office to weaken perceived enemies.Federal worker unions have sought over the past two months to lead the resistance to President Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency, filing lawsuits, organizing protests and signing up new members by the thousands.This week, Mr. Trump struck back with a potentially crippling blow.In a sweeping executive order denouncing the unions as “hostile” to his agenda, the president cited national security concerns to remove some one million civil servants across more than a dozen agencies from the reach of organized labor, eliminating the unions’ power to represent those workers at the bargaining table or in court.A lawsuit accompanying the executive order, filed by the administration in federal court in Texas, asks a judge to give the president permission to rescind collective bargaining agreements, citing national security interests and saying the agreements had “hamstrung” executive authority.Labor leaders vowed on Friday to challenge the Trump actions in court. But, barring a legal intervention, the moves could kneecap federal unions and protections for many civil service employees just as workers brace for a new round of job cuts across the government.“They are hobbling the union, ripping up collective bargaining agreements, and then they will come for the workers,” said Brian Kelly, a Michigan-based employee of the Environmental Protection Agency who heads a local of the American Federation of Government Employees, the country’s largest federal employee union. “So, it’s a worst-case scenario.”The move added to the list of actions by Mr. Trump to use the levers of the presidency to weaken perceived enemies, in this case seeking to neutralize groups that represent civil servants who make up the “deep state” he is trying to dismantle. In issuing the order, Mr. Trump said he was using congressionally granted powers to designate certain sectors of the federal work force central to “national security missions,” and exempt from collective-bargaining requirements. Employees of some agencies, like the F.B.I. and the C.I.A., are already excluded from collective bargaining for these reasons.Are you a federal worker? We want to hear from you.The Times would like to hear about your experience as a federal worker under the second Trump administration. We may reach out about your submission, but we will not publish any part of your response without contacting you first.

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The final version of the University of Michigan’s closely watched Survey of Consumers showed a reading of 57.0 for the month, down 11.9% from February and 28.2% from a year ago.
Inflation fears drove much of the downturn.
Respondents expect inflation a year from now to run at a 5% rate, up 0.1 percentage point from the mid-month reading, and a 0.7 percentage point acceleration from February.

A shopper pays with a credit card at the farmer’s market in San Francisco on March 27, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The deterioration in consumer sentiment was even worse than anticipated in March as worries over inflation intensified, according to a University of Michigan survey released Friday.
The final version of the university’s closely watched Survey of Consumers showed a reading of 57.0 for the month, down 11.9% from February and 28.2% from a year ago. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting 57.9, which was the mid-month level.

It was the third consecutive decrease and stretched across party lines and income groups, survey director Joanne Hsu said.
“Consumers continue to worry about the potential for pain amid ongoing economic policy developments,” she said.
In addition to worries about the current state of affairs, the survey’s index of consumer expectations tumbled to 52.6, down 17.8% from a month ago and 32% for the same period in 2024.
Inflation fears drove much of the downturn. Respondents expect inflation a year from now to run at a 5% rate, up 0.1 percentage point from the mid-month reading, and a 0.7 percentage point acceleration from February. At the five-year horizon, the outlook now is for 4.1%, the first time the survey has had a reading above 4% since February 1993.
Economists worry President Donald Trump’s tariff plans will spur more inflation, possibly curtailing the Federal Reserve from further interest rate cuts.

The report came the same day the Commerce Department said the core inflation rate increased to 2.8% in February, after a 0.4% monthly gain that was the biggest move since January 2024.
The latest results also reflect worries over the labor market, with the level of consumers expecting the unemployment rate to rise at the highest level since 2009.
Stocks took a hit after the university’s survey was released, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading more than 500 points lower.
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The core personal consumption expenditures price index, a key Fed inflation measure showed a 0.4% increase in February, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.8%, both higher than expected.
Consumer spending accelerated 0.4% for the month, below the 0.5% forecast. That came as personal income posted a 0.8% rise, against the estimate for 0.4%.

The Federal Reserve’s key inflation measure rose more than expected in February while consumer spending also posted a smaller than projected increase, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
The core personal consumption expenditures price index showed a 0.4% increase for the month, the biggest monthly gain since January 2024, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.8%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for respective numbers of 0.3% and and 2.7%.

Core inflation excludes volatile food and energy prices and is generally considered a better indicator of long-term inflation trends.
In the all-items measure, the price index rose 0.3% on the month and 2.5% from a year ago, both in line with forecasts.
At the same time, the Bureau of Economic Analysis report showed that consumer spending accelerated 0.4% for the month, below the 0.5% forecast. That came as personal income posted a 0.8% rise, against the estimate for 0.4%.
Stock market futures moved lower following the release as did Treasury yields.
Federal Reserve officials focus on the PCE inflation reading as they consider it a broader measure that also adjusts for changes in consumer behavior and places less of an emphasis on housing than the Labor Department’s consumer price index. Shelter costs have been one of the stickier elements of inflation and rose 0.3% in the PCE measure.

“It looks like a ‘wait-and-see’ Fed still has more waiting to do,” said Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. “Today’s higher-than-expected inflation reading wasn’t exceptionally hot, but it isn’t going to speed up the Fed’s timeline for cutting interest rates, especially given the uncertainty surrounding tariffs.”
Good prices increased 0.2%, led by recreational goods and vehicles, which increased 0.5%. Gasoline offset some of the increase, with the category falling by 0.8%. Services prices were up 0.4%.
Households also grew more cautious with their money, as the personal saving rate increased to 4.6%, the highest since June 2024.
The report comes with markets on edge that President Donald Trump’s tariff intentions will aggravate inflation at a time when the data was making slow but steady progress back to the Fed’s 2% goal.
After cutting rates a full percentage point in 2024, the central bank has been on hold this year, with officials of late expressing concern over the impact the import duties will have on prices. Economists tends to consider tariffs as one-off events that don’t feed through to longer-lasting inflation pressures, but the encompassing scope of Trump’s tariffs and the potential for an aggressive global trade war are changing the stakes.
Correction: Consumer spending increased 0.4% in February. An earlier headline misstated the number.
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The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure showed underlying price pressures persisting in February.Americans hoping for some relief on inflation suffered a setback in February, as new data showed underlying price pressures intensifying even before the latest escalation in President Trump’s trade war.The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, after stripping out volatile food and energy items, climbed 2.8 percent in February from a year earlier, outpacing January’s annual pace. On a monthly basis, these prices ticked up another 0.4 percent, higher than the monthly increase in January.Overall inflation came in at 2.5 percent, a level that sits well above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target and has been more or less in place since November.The latest data from the Commerce Department highlights the extent of the challenge the central bank is confronting. Its debate over what to do about interest rates has been complicated by a rapidly escalating trade war, one that has bred extreme uncertainty about the economic outlook.On Wednesday, Mr. Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on cars and car parts imported into the United States and has vowed to unveil another set of tariffs next week.With the scope and scale of the tariffs not yet clear, and a host of other policies pertaining to immigration, taxes and deregulation still being worked out, the Fed has opted to stand pat until it gets more clarity about what exactly Mr. Trump will enforce and how consumers and businesses will respond.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Carmakers are likely to face higher costs regardless of how they respond to President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on cars and auto parts.Automakers can respond to President Trump’s new 25 percent tariffs on imported cars and parts in several ways. But all of them cost money and will lead to higher car prices, analysts say.Manufacturers can try to move production from countries like Mexico to the United States. They can try to increase the number of cars they already make here. They can stop selling imported models, especially ones that are less profitable.But whatever carmakers decide, car buyers can expect to pay more for new and used vehicles. Estimates vary widely and depend on the model, but the increase could range from around $3,000 for a car made in the United States to well over $10,000 for imported models.Those figures do not take into account additional tariffs that Mr. Trump said he would announce next week to punish countries that impose tariffs on U.S. goods. He has also said he would increase tariffs further if trading partners like Canada and the European Union raise tariffs in response to his auto tariffs, leading to an escalating tit-for-tat trade war.“It’s going to be disruptive and expensive for American consumers for several years,” said Michael Cusumano, professor of management at the MIT Sloan School of Management.Mr. Trump has long brandished tariffs. But many auto executives had hoped that his threats were a negotiating tool. Mr. Trump dashed those hopes on Wednesday when he said at the White House that the tariffs were “100 percent” permanent.Where Popular Cars (and Their Parts) Come FromHere is a selection of well-known models and where their components come from, as well as where the vehicle is ultimately assembled.

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Share of parts by origin country
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationBy The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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President Trump and his supporters have clashed with mainstream economists for years about the merits of tariffs. Now, the world will get to see who is right, as the president’s sweeping levies on automobiles and auto parts play out in a real-time experiment on the global economy.In Mr. Trump’s telling, tariffs have a straightforward effect: They encourage companies to move factories to the United States, creating more American jobs and prosperity.But for many economists, the effect of tariffs is anything but simple. The tariffs are likely to encourage domestic car production over the long run, they say. But they will also cause substantial collateral damage that could backfire on the president’s goals for jobs, manufacturing and the economy at large.That’s because tariffs will raise the price of cars for consumers, discouraging car purchases and slowing the economy, economists say. Tariffs could also scramble supply chains and raise costs for carmakers that depend on imported parts, reducing U.S. car production in the short term.They could also lead to retaliation on U.S. car exports, as well as other products American companies send abroad, leading to damaging global trade wars.On Thursday, global stock markets fell, with auto stocks hit hardest, as investors absorbed the scope of Mr. Trump’s plans. Shares in General Motors, which imports many of its best-selling cars and trucks from Mexico, were down roughly 7 percent in midday trading. Stellantis and Ford shares were also lower. European shares closed lower Thursday, with carmakers suffering the worst losses.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More