COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — A Council Bluffs mechanic expects the cost of car repairs to go if Trump Administration tariffs remain in place.
- “The suppliers that supply to us, they’re going to have an increase because, you know, they have to absorb that and then we, as the wholesaler, will sell the part to the customer as another markup,” said Rod Pressgrove over the phone. “So there’s going to be, yeah, there’s definitely going to be some price increases.”
- UNO business professor, Anh Ta: "Our costs – for sure – the car price for the new car will increase ... used car might not be impacted right away, right, because it's like a secondary market, but later in can increase."
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WATCH BELOW
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, it’s the Midwest. We spend a lot of time in our cars. We like a good road trip and many of us don’t mind a long commute. But what happens if the cost of maintaining our vehicles goes up because of tariffs.
I’m your neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel in Council Bluffs.
Rod: “RP Performance, this is Rod.”
Katrina: “Hi, Rod, it’s Katrina, again, from KMTV.”
Rod Pressgrove owns RP performance, an auto repair shop in Council Bluffs. I caught him just as he was about to leave for the afternoon.
“The suppliers that supply to us, they’re going to have an increase because, you know, they have to absorb that and then we, as the wholesaler, will sell the part to the customer as another markup,” he said over the phone. “ So there’s going to be, yeah, there’s definitely going to be some price increases.”
I spoke to another Council Bluffs mechanic who told me sometimes auto parts cross a border two or three times in north America before they are ready to be installed in a vehicle.
UNO business professor Anh Ta told me tariffs can encourage more domestic manufacturing in the long run but it takes several years to see the effects.
Those same companies will need to offset labor costs with innovation, automation and possible tax cuts.
Meanwhile, consumers pay higher prices.
Katrina: “... How will that affect the average consumer that maybe wants to go out and buy a new car?”
Anh Ta: "Our costs – for sure – the car price for the new car will increase ... used car might not be impacted right away, right, because it's like a secondary market, but later in can increase."
Ta added that when car values increase, so do insurance rates. Farmers, and others whose businesses rely on transportation, tend to feel those increases.
