'Tariff trickle-down': Analysts point to production stoppage at U.S. car company

The U.S. car company Stellantis has announced that it will stop producing vehicles at plants in Mexico and Canada as President Donald Trump's tariffs take effect.

Trump announced a 25% tax on automobiles, and according to one MSNBC host, Trump's tariffs are already hitting Americans.

NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Cheung explained that Stellantis, which manufactures Jeep, will "have ripple effects to even their U.S. operations."

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About 900 U.S. employees at Stellantis plants are getting temporarily laid off this week. In Canada, about 4,500 hourly workers are being cut, CNBC reported.

"Again, this is something that we have been warned about when it came to the auto tariffs, which, by the way, were announced last week," said Cheung. "The auto tariffs are a bit separate from what was announced yesterday, but nonetheless, it would be a 25% tariff on any sort of automotive product that is imported into the United States, which could include exactly those that are made in plants, like in Mexico and Canada. But you're seeing the intertwined nature of it, such that when they shut those down, they have to shut down the stamping plants as well."

Host Ana Cabrera was shocked, repeating "900 layoffs they're already putting out there as a result of all of the tariff trickle down."

She then welcomed Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi, who said, "My reaction [to the markets]? Ugh. I mean. Really. The damage this is doing is, you know, clearly evident. And it's just going to continue to mount. I mean, if these tariffs are fully implemented and implemented quickly, it's going to push the U.S. economy, the global economy, into recession. I just don't see any other way around it."

He went on to call it a "massive tax increase on American consumers and businesses."

See the clip below or at the link right here.