SANFORD, Fla. – As the Trump administration’s 25% tariffs on all foreign steel and aluminum take effect, we’re looking into how what’s happening in Washington will impact your wallet.
President Donald Trump says the levies will level the playing field for American producers, but that will likely come with a cost for American companies who use metal materials. It’s possible consumers will have to pay more for everything from auto parts to air conditioning units to canned beverages.
Our News 6 Team met with Ryan Moutrey, the owner of Overkill Customs in Sanford, to see how he expects his auto body business will be impacted.
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Moutrey showed us some of the lighting systems and other work he specializes in which all include parts that are made with metal.
“Your automatic steps, anything with speakers. Speakers all have aluminum, metal, all types of stuff in them,” Moutrey said. “Your automotive lights are going to have increases, pretty much anything custom, which is what we do, is going to see increases unfortunately.”
Moutrey said even before the tariffs took effect, he started to get calls and emails from manufacturers and wholesalers talking about the potential impact.
“No one knows the exact amount it’s going to be right now, but we have heard minimums of at least 10%,” Moutrey said.
Moutrey said anyone who needs to get their vehicle repaired or purchase a new one will be affected. Because his business specializes in custom work, which is an added expense, he plans to do whatever it takes to try and keep costs down for his customers and his small business. But there’s only so much he can take before it impacts his bottom line.
“As far as locally for us, the only thing we can think to do is maybe buy bulk to try and help the consumers not spend too much money,” said Moutrey. “We’re going to do as much as we can to try and save the consumers as much as we can, but really a lot of it is out of our control.”