By Josh Boak and Alexa St. John, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — U.S. automakers are concerned about President Donald Trump’s agreement to tariff Japanese vehicles at 15%, saying they will face steeper import taxes on steel, aluminum and parts than their competitors.

“We need to review all the details of the agreement, but this is a deal that will charge lower tariffs on Japanese autos with no U.S. content,” said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents American automakers General Motors, Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis.

Blunt said in an interview the U.S. companies and workers “definitely are at a disadvantage” because they face a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum and a 25% tariff on parts and finished vehicles, with some exceptions for products covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that went into effect in 2020.

The domestic automaker reaction reveals the challenge of enforcing policies across the world economy, showing that for all of Trump’s promises there can be genuine tradeoffs from policy choices that risk serious blowback in politically important states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, where automaking is both a source of income and of identity.

Trump portrayed the trade framework as a major win after announcing it on Tuesday, saying it would add hundreds of thousands of jobs to the U.S. economy and open the Japanese economy in ways that could close a persistent trade imbalance. The agreement includes a 15% tariff that replaces the 25% import tax the Republican president had threatened to charge starting on Aug. 1. Japan would also put together $550 billion to invest in U.S. projects, the White House said.

The framework with Japan will remove regulations that prevent American vehicles from being sold in that country, the White House has said, adding that it would be possible for vehicles built in Detroit to be shipped directly to Japan and ready to be sold.

But Blunt said that foreign auto producers, including the U.S., Europe and South Korea, have just a 6% share in Japan, raising skepticism that simply having the open market that the Trump administration says will exist in that country will be sufficient.

“Tough nut to crack, and I’d be very surprised if we see any meaningful market penetration in Japan,” Blunt said.

Asked at Wednesday’s briefing about whether Trump’s sectoral tariffs such as those on autos were now subject to possible change, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the issue had been going through the Commerce Department.

The framework with Japan was also an indication that some nations simply saw it as preferential to have a set tariff rate rather than be whipsawed by Trump’s changes on import taxes since April. But for the moment, both Japan and the United Kingdom with its quotas on auto exports might enjoy a competitive edge in the U.S.

“With this agreement in place it provides Japan with a near-term operating cost advantage compared to other foreign automakers, and even some domestic U.S. product that uses a high degree of both foreign production and parts content,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars. “It will be interesting to see if this is the first domino to fall in a series of foreign countries that decide long-term stability is more important that short term disputes over specific tariff rates.”

Major Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the trade framework, nor did Autos Drive America or the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, organizations that also represent the industry.

There is the possibility that the Japanese framework would give automakers and other countries grounds for pushing for changes in the Trump administration’s tariffs regime. The president has previously said that flexibility in import tax negotiations is something he values. The USMCA is up for review next year.

Ford, GM and Stellantis do “have every right to be upset,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president at consultancy AutoForecast Solutions.

But “Honda, Toyota, and Nissan still import vehicles from Mexico and Canada, where the current levels of tariffs can be higher than those applied to Japanese imports. Most of the high-volume models from Japanese brands are already produced in North America.”

Fiorani noted that among the few exceptions are the Toyota 4Runner, the Mazda CX-5 and the Subaru Forester, but most of the other imports fill niches that are too small to warrant production in the U.S.

“There will be negotiations between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico, and it will probably result in tariffs no higher than 15%,” Fiorani added, “but nobody seems to be in a hurry to negotiate around the last Trump administration’s free trade agreement.”

By Breana Noble and Owen McCarthy, The Detroit News

Consumers’ hunger for new vehicles persisted in May, but affordability concerns could cool sales in June as dealerships start running short on cars and SUVs delivered ahead of President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs.

In May, Ford’s U.S. sales increased 16% year-over-year while Hyundai’s grew 8% and Kia’s rose 5%. Subaru and Mazda Motor Corp., however, reported declines of 10% and 19%, respectively. General Motors and Stellantis will report second-quarter sales next month.

Spring typically marks a surge in vehicle sales, as tax returns hit bank accounts and the weather warms up. But consumer sentiment has plunged to some of its lowest levels in decades amid frequently changing rules on tariffs, and concerns that new vehicle prices could climb later this year. It has led some consumers to purchase vehicles sooner than they had planned.

S&P Global Mobility forecasted May sales up 2% compared to a year ago, but predicted sales were slowing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15.7 million vehicles, down from 17.6 million from March to April.

“Consumer confidence is down, but the sales are not,” said Stephanie Brinley, associate director of research and analysis at S&P’s AutoIntelligence. “It doesn’t usually work that way.”

With inventories down and non-tariffed models moving off lots, the “affordability bullet has not come through yet. There’s a little bit of wait-and-see for what automakers really do,” Brinley added, noting June could start revealing the direction companies choose to take.

Some have given consumers confidence that they can wait a bit. Ford, through the July 4 weekend, is offering its customers thousands of dollars per vehicle in discounts typically reserved for its employees. In early May, however, it did increase prices by up to $2,000 forf its Mexico-built vehicles because of tariffs.

Stellantis — the parent of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and other brands — is offering a similar employee discount program, which it has been extended through June. Volkswagen has said it will hold to its current manufacturer’s suggested retail prices through June. GM CEO Mary Barra has said the automaker doesn’t expect major price increases.

But vehicle imports are expected to slow, which will mean less availability and price increases, said Charlie Chesbrough, a senior economist at Cox Automotive Inc.

“As more tariffed products replace existing inventory over the summer,” he said, in a May forecast, “prices are expected to be pushed higher, leading to slower sales in the coming months.”

Some dealers are already noticing wariness. “I haven’t seen people this cautious since before, or during, the early stages of COVID,” said Jim Walen, the owner of Stellantis and Hyundai showrooms in Seattle.

The ports in Seattle look “empty,” he said. Layoffs by Microsoft in the state of Washington haven’t helped business either. Stellantis’ employee discount program, however, is a boon: “Anytime you can affect the transaction price, it’s a good thing.”

Meanwhile, some dealers are planning to pull back over revenue concerns, Walen said, but he’s taking a different approach: “We’re very aggressive. We stock a lot, we’re part of the community, we advertise a lot.”

While some May sales are occurring over tariff concerns, other shoppers are dropping out of the market altogether, said Ivan Drury, director of insights at auto information website Edmunds.com. It may still be too early to determine if the circumstances will affect vehicle segments as some customers hold off rather than get a vehicle without certain features.

There are also differing views on tariffs, how they work and the impact they will have, Drury added: “Not everybody’s on the same page.”

But there are trends. More consumers bought out their leases in May than in April, rather than leasing again. That could be a sign customers are seeking to limit increases to their monthly payments, but it also means they’re stepping out of the market, Drury said.

He added that while inventory is declining there’s still too much stock — more than 2.5 million vehicles are on dealer lots — to see substantial price increases.

“The last time when we had people really get hit with price increases, where it took them back, was when we were down to 1 million units,” Drury said. “And that’s where you start to see that crossover between consumers getting a deal versus consumers just dealing and saying, ‘OK, fine, I’ll pay MSRP. I’ll pay above.’”

The share of electric vehicles in the market was forecasted to continue slipping. EV’s accounted for about 7% of sales in March and April, and S&P Global Mobility predicts it would be 6.8% in May. Ford EV sales in May were down by a quarter, driven by decreases in the F-150 Lightning pickup and Transit commercial van.

Trump has pulled federal funding for EV charging infrastructure and directed his administration to reevaluate greenhouse gas tailpipe emission regulations and incentives that could be construed as an “EV mandate.” The U.S. Senate last month also removed a waiver that enabled California and a contingent of states to enforce stricter zero-emission requirements on passenger vehicle sales. The result is an uncertain policy environment around EVs.

“They’ve been trending a little bit down the whole year,” Brinley said. “It may be some people looking for an EV in January bought, expecting the incentives to go away, but they’re not afraid of that anymore.”

Rhett Ricart, who has eight new-vehicle stores for Ford and Chevrolet to Nissan and Mitsubishi in and near Columbus, Ohio, said tariffs and policy changes are on the minds of EV buyers, but he otherwise describes sales as normal.

“A possible tariff scare … doesn’t seem to exist,” Ricart said, adding about expectations that Trump or the judicial system will offer some clarity on import taxes. “For any jitteriness, we will hopefully find out if the tariffs stick soon.”