Tom's Tidbits for April 2025 - Tom Dwyer AutomotiveTom Dwyer Automotive

How the “tariff thing” will affect us… and you.

Greetings,

It’s one of the most common questions floating around today in one form or another: “What’s happening with those tariffs Trump’s talking about?” We’ve heard it from governments and politicians, we’ve heard it from friends, we’ve asked it in our own families, and we’ve heard clients ask it in the shop. While we can’t speak to the effects either globally or at kitchen tables, we can tell you what we’re expecting and how we’ll deal with it here at Tom Dwyer.

We share the confusion and dread that seems to be associated with the entire tariff issue. No business wants to see their costs rise, much less if they have no idea what kind of rise to plan for. No individual wants to see the prices rise at a business they deal with, much less if the prices are rising at every business. We know changes are coming and that none of the scenarios look good, but like you, we have no idea when they’ll hit or how bad they’ll be.

But even with doubt we have to plan, and there’s good/bad news on that front. When you pick up your vehicle we give you an itemized list of everything we did (and everything you should be thinking about for the future). The total cost breaks down into two parts, Labor and Parts. The good news is that our Labor Rate is based on paying domestic employees without much dependence on imports from any country at all, so WE DON’T EXPECT OUR LABOR RATE TO RISE AS A DIRECT RESULT OF TARIFFS. The bad news is (or could be) on our PARTS costs. We order all our parts from local suppliers but they’re only distributors for manufacturers, and there are very few domestic manufacturers of auto parts. Whatever our suppliers charge us, we mark that up and pass it on to you. WE DON’T PLAN TO INCREASE OUR PERCENTAGE MARKUP BECAUSE OF TARIFFS, but if our base price rises then your price will rise as well. Whether the parts come from Mexico, Asia, Europe, or elsewhere, when (and if) the tariffs hit then you’ll see the difference on your next repair. Of course we can’t speak for other shops but it’s hard to imagine the situation will be different anywhere else.

It may be tempting to think tariffs originate in the fever dreams of the Trump administration. They certainly bear responsibility for the current (or eventual) way tariffs are being implemented, but they aren’t exclusively Trump’s invention. Tariffs have been used since the founding of our country but even we didn’t come up with the idea; it goes all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome. The history of tariffs is stiff reading even for the wonkiest, but it’s important and I’ve included some relevant links in our Digging Deeper section below.

A stated purpose of this new tariff regime is to bring back American manufacturing and rebuild the economic base that’s been destroyed over the last 50 years. That’s a worthy goal, and one we’ve loudly supported for years. But according to people much more qualified than your local mechanic, the way they’re being implemented won’t achieve that goal and will probably cause serious damage to the dwindling manufacturing base not only here but around the world. Either way, we’ll be here with you to hope for the best and find out the reality.

Make a great day,