...you don't want to be in the auto sector close to recession. Lithium is largely beholden to the auto sector so it is to be avoided.
...the consumer is hurting badly, but because Americans love their cars, car demand is slower to respond (lower)
US car market BUBBLE is popping: US auto loans serious (90+ days) delinquency rates hit 3.0% in Q4 2024, the highest in 14 years - the Financial Crisis recovery period. Serious delinquencies now surpassed the 2001 recession and the 2020 Crisis levels
New Tariffs Could Cost U.S. Car Buyers Up To $10,000 More
ByBill Koenig, Contributor.
I write about the auto industry and its impact on almost everything.
Feb 21, 2025, 02:19pm EST
Tariffs envisioned by the Trump administration on Canadian and Mexican goods may add $4,000 to $10,000 to the cost of each car and truck, a a consultant said Friday.
“There will be a consumer reaction,” Patrick Anderson, CEO and principal of Anderson Economic Group, said during an Automotive Press Association webinar.
“We will see significant cutbacks,” he added. “There will be a significant effect on employment and production” in the North American auto industry.
President Donald Trump on Feb. 1 implemented tariffs of 25% on Canadian and Mexican goods. Two days later, he paused the tariffs for 30 days. On Feb. 11, Trump reinstated 25% on steel imports and boosted tariffs on aluminum to 25%.
In North America, vehicles and parts are shipped across borders, often multiple times. If the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico go into effect, they would be levied throughout the production process.
“It’s not a sustainable situation,” said Anderson, whose firm is based in East Lansing, Michigan. Makers of vehicles and parts would not be able to absorb the extra costs stemming from the tariffs, he said.
“Everything here leads to cars costing more,” Anderson said.
Production cutbacks would be larger than the fall of 2023, when the United Auto Workers union went on strike against General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis, the consultant said.
