Eric Easley, owner of Weber Road Auto Service in North Linden, has been candid with his customers when it comes to the impending impact of President Trump's tariffs.
"My conversation right now with customers has been to, number one, to educate them and tell them that this is going to be real," Easley said.
Right now, Easley has parts in stock and customers won't see higher price tags for car repairs. But as tariffs take effect and Easley has to order new parts, customers can expect gradual increases in their bills.
"If they have service done now, it may be one cost, but for that same service a month from now, it could be anywhere from 15 to 30% more," Easley said.
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A 25% tariff on imported cars has already taken effect. Starting May 3, the tariff is expected to also apply to car parts.
A 10% tariff now also applies to most foreign-made goods. President Donald Trump introduced and then paused a slew of other higher tariffs that had been set to take effect on Wednesday. And he continues to hike tariffs on China.
Weber Road Auto, like many auto repair shops, gets the bulk of its parts from foreign suppliers. Easley said about 80% of his parts come from a foreign manufacturer or are after-market parts that originated outside of the country, which will also be impacted by tariffs. Most of his parts come from Mexico, Canada and China.
"Depending on where it comes from will determine how big that tariff is going to be and it looks like China is going be the highest," Easley said.
Easley said the broad tariffs on those countries will be the first "blow" to the auto repair industry and its customers.
"Things like everyday parts are just going to go up in cost," Easley said.
Easley doesn't worry about losing business because cars are too complex for most people to try to fix themselves. He expects that some people may put off service or choose to get their vehicles fixed in stages rather than all at once due to the rising costs.
Easley said he will offer options to customers, like 90-day payment plans, to help ease the burden of the increased cost.
"This is the hard part, and that's just for everyone, we just don't want this to create, like a recession, or make things hard for families, because inflation is really high now," Easley said. "That extra burden of these additional costs is gonna really be hard."
