President Donald Trump uses tariffs as a tool to bring the United States’ trade partners to the table. Foreign car marques have felt the squeeze of the tariffs. Even Toyota, one of the largest, most profitable automakers on the planet, anticipates that the Trumpian tariffs will scrub nearly $10 billion off the brand’s forecasted profits.

Toyota profit forecasts warn of a $9.5 billion cut due to Trump tariffs  

The Trump administration’s tariffs are already impacting global automakers, and not even Toyota is immune. Recently, Toyota announced that the brand’s profit forecasts are down 1.4 trillion yen (around USD 9.5 billion) as a direct result of US duties and tariffs on parts, raw materials, and, of course, cars. 

According to Reuters, Toyota still intends to build cars, trucks, SUVs, and minivans for American consumers, regardless of tariff structures. “It’s honestly very difficult for us to predict what will happen regarding the market environment,” said Toyota’s head of finance, Takanori Azuma.

In that same briefing, Azuma affirmed that the brand would continue making cars for the US market. It makes sense, too. Last year, Toyota sold 475,193 RAV4s in the United States, more than any other vehicle, including the wildly popular Ford F-150. Needless to say, the US is a high-volume market for Toyota.   

At the quarterly level, Toyota says the tariffs have cost the global automaking titan billions. The Japanese automaker said the tariffs directly cost the company 450 billion yen (about USD 3 billion) in operating profit for Q2, per AP News.

Still, even with the impacts of tariffs cutting into the brand’s bottom line, Toyota seems optimistic about keeping the toll of Trump tariffs to a minimum. “Despite a challenging external environment, we have continued to make comprehensive investments, as well as improvements such as increased unit sales, cost reductions, and expanded value chain profits,” Toyota said in a statement.