11/06/2025

The Impact of Tariffs on Import Car Repairs

Source: importCAR

Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted by Emma Henderson of our sister site, AftermarketNews; Emma was kind enough to ask some questions directly related to the import car repair market, alongside her business-focused AMN queries. The interview is with Ambrose Conway, CEO and founder of Seraph, a global operations and strategy consulting firm focused on supply chain improvement projects. This abridged Q&A of their interview focuses on the import car repair market.

It should be noted, since the tariff situation is in flux and continuously changing, that this interview was conducted on Sept. 4, and all information on the tariff situation is accurate up to that point.

At the bottom of this page we’ll provide the full video of Emma’s interview with Ambrose Conway. Now on to the Q&A:

ImportCar: Do you think tariffs will lead to repairs on European vehicles becoming more expensive or time-consuming? And how can import shops prepare?

Ambrose Conway: I think they already are. In the past, parts were being ordered as needed and you could ship parts in from China, Asia or Europe in a couple of days. That’s not the case anymore from Europe. DHL and the postal services are holding parts. So where something might’ve taken a few days to get in the past or a week, you might not be able to get it in at all. So they’re having to go scrambling to find parts elsewhere. For Jaguar or Land Rover, that’s a clear challenge. They had a hard time getting parts anyway. Their supply chain for the aftermarket was broken. And smaller shops that service those vehicles have struggled to get some of those parts.

Japanese cars tend to be better; Korean cars, I’m not seeing much delay there. Hyundai and Kia seem to do a great job making sure that there are parts in [the U.S.], but other cars, some of the more boutique brands or unique brands or luxury brands, we’re seeing some challenges getting parts in. And I think that’s for older cars especially, where you were ordering from Europe where there weren’t a lot of parts in the states. Distributors were taking a chance on the fact that tariffs might have gone away and we don’t believe that’s going to happen. So now we’re at a point where there just aren’t parts in the country and it’s taking longer to get them in the country.

IC: So if I’m working on a BMW, I can potentially be seeing a longer repair time and higher expenses to get that car repaired.

AC: If you have an older BMW, you’ll likely see a longer repair time and higher expenses to get that repaired. I think it’s the cars that aren’t using the same parts as current production models. The older cars, the older the car gets, the harder it always is to repair it to get those parts. Those are cars are on the road now for 13-plus years. We need those parts. And if we’re trying to import them as we need them, it just takes more time. There’s a lot more regulation and that’s going to make the jobs of smaller shops hard and it’s going to mean consumers are waiting and vehicles will be off road while they’re waiting on parts. That’s painful for everyone.

IC: What is the scope and application of tariffs impacting the aftermarket currently?

AC: We’re still getting clarity. There’s a lot that’s changing. There are a lot of are framework agreements that are coming into place. There’s a lot of pressure on parts that contain steel and aluminum. We’re seeing tariff rates holding steady. We’re not seeing a lot of increases at this point. I think the biggest risk that we see for change right now is China… There are a lot of aftermarket parts that come from China right now and I think that’s going to give some really great opportunities for people that can source from other markets. China is the one place that I would not want to be sourcing at this point in time. I think that’s where my biggest risk is.

Europe is seemingly stable. We can talk a little bit more about that in a minute, but I think Europe is set up with a framework agreement. The framework agreement is 15% tariffs up to 25% tariffs on some goods with some steel and aluminum kickers on top of it. Stacking tariffs that becomes fairly painful. So parts out of Europe could be hard, but Mexico, Canada and the US [are in] a good place.

It’s really about understanding the tariffs that are impacting the specific part that you have. And a lot of this comes down to looking at the individual tariff codes. It’s hard to give a generalization. We’d have to take a specific tariff code, pull the thread and go through it. And I’m assuming that all the aftermarket companies that we’re talking to here really are doing that. And if they’re not, they need to be doing that every week. You need to be pulling that thread, making sure nothing’s changed and seeing if there are other classifications that your parts fall under. You may have a part that could be used for two different things. If that’s the case, make sure that you understand, because how you classify that will give you a much better cost profile. So it’s really important to look to study this and to be checking on it every week or every month. I am encouraging people to every week go through and make sure that they just update it, have a spreadsheet and run the numbers and where you have dual sourcing, get parts from the most tariff-effective and cost-competitive place. Look at the total landed cost of a part, not just the tariff impact.

IC: So you touched on this a little bit, but where are we in the EU long-term negotiations? Will that 15% deal framework include aftermarket parts or is it too early to tell?

AC: It does not sound like the tariffs are fully in place. It’s a framework agreement right now and there’s a lot that needs to get sorted out. The steel and aluminum tariffs in the EU seem to be a real sticking point. It’s not fully fleshed out and fully in place. We’re going to have to wait and see what’s going to happen.

From an aftermarket perspective. I think we’re going to continue to see volatility coming out of Europe. I don’t think we’re going to see tariffs come down.

IC: Absolutely. So heading back stateside for a minute, with pending court cases on the legality of tariffs imposed under the Emergency Economic Powers Act, should companies expect lower rates anytime soon or where do we sit with that?

AC: My answer is a hard no. I think the government has seen a path to money and I don’t know any government around the world, much less our government, that doesn’t like money. There is a tremendous amount of cash being collected because of these tariffs. If a EPA is tossed out and if the Supreme Court upholds that the administration has many other vehicles and avenues and other legislation they can use to start to put these in place, I think Congress is warmed up to the idea of tariffs and it’s no longer a bad thing.

And while the court may in the end rule that this is beyond presidential authority, I think there are other authorities that could be used and Congress could eventually put these in place if the Supreme Court hears [the case] and is going to rule against it, I would imagine the administration would move very, very quickly to get Congress to put legislation in place endorsing this or putting it into law, which would then make it impossible for them to go away.

For the full interview, watch the video here: