Toyota Faces Biggest Hit From US Tariffs Among Carmakers

It projects a $1.5b profit drop in two months even as US-Japan trade negotiations continue

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TOKYO - Toyota Motor is the biggest carmaker in the world — and also the auto industry's biggest loser when it comes to projected losses from US President Donald Trump's trade war.

Duties on imported cars and auto parts forced General Motors to slash its full-year profit guidance by as much as US$5 billion, while Ford Motor is bracing itself for a US$1.5 billion annual hit.

Toyota sees a US$1.2 billion (S$1.5 billion) profit drop in just two months. While the Japanese automaker did not provide a tally for all of 2025, it did project operating income of 3.8 trillion yen (S$34 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2026 — far below the 4.7 trillion yen expected by analysts.

Toyota has increased local production in the US to more than half of sales in the country, but it still relies on imports of key vehicle parts and models — to the tune of some 1.2 million cars a year.

The White House has noticed, with Mr. Trump calling out the Toyota City-based automaker by name during his contentious Liberation Day speech in the Rose Garden on April 2. He complained about Toyota's "one million foreign-made automobiles" sold in the US.

The huge tariff hit reflects the company's decision to hold the line on sticker prices at US dealers and production volumes at its American factories amid the start of bilateral trade negotiations between the US and Japan. Those talks started in February and it is unclear when they will conclude with a deal.

"When it comes to tariffs, the details are still incredibly fluid," Toyota's chief executive Koji Sato said last week after releasing the latest financial results. "It's difficult to take steps or measure the impact."