The United States imposed 25% tariffs on imported auto parts Saturday that could sharply raise prices for new and used vehicles as well as for repairs and insurance.

The latest tariffs, which President Donald Trump ordered in March as part of his plan to promote domestic manufacturing, come after the 25% levies on imported cars that took effect in early April.

This round of duties on imported parts will have a broader impact because even cars made in the United States often have engines, transmissions, batteries or other components produced in other countries.

The administration said Tuesday that the tariffs were intended “to protect national security by incentivizing domestic automobile production and reducing American reliance on imports of foreign automobiles and their parts.”

The tariffs on parts will not apply to components from Canada or Mexico as long as those goods meet the requirements of a North American trade agreement negotiated during Trump’s first term. Among other things, that deal requires that a minimum percentage of the content of auto parts come from within North America.

The administration also said that imported auto parts would not be subjected to other levies, like the ones on aluminum and steel. And companies that make cars in the United States would be exempted for two years from having to pay a portion of the tariffs for imported parts.

Trump’s tariffs have already pushed up new car prices as customers flocked to dealerships to buy vehicles before the levies took effect. The tariffs are having a ripple effect on the used-car market as more people look for affordable alternatives to new cars, increasing demand and prices.

The tariffs on new auto parts are also expected to increase the cost of repairs and insurance premiums, because replacement parts will become more expensive. Rising car prices will contribute to overall inflation, which Trump had promised to bring down.

The president has insisted that the tariffs will bring manufacturing back to the United States. But even if that policy succeeds, consumers will still pay more for cars. Many goods, including lots of auto parts, can often be made much more cheaply in countries outside the United States.

“A lot of parts like fasteners, washers, carpet, wiring looms are just not available; we can’t even buy those parts here,” Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor, told CNN this week.

Automakers and suppliers say it will take years for them to relocate assembly lines. And they are unlikely to commit billions of dollars to domestic manufacturing because of uncertainty about the direction of trade policy.

Trump has frequently changed his mind about the size of tariffs and how they should be applied. On Tuesday, he modified some of the rules to allow automakers to avoid paying duties on a portion of the components they import for two years. The measures provide the industry some relief, but car prices will still rise by thousands of dollars, analysts said.

There will be unpredictable side effects. The financial stress could drive some suppliers out of business, creating parts shortages.

“Auto suppliers are already at thin margins,” said Lenny LaRocca, U.S. automotive industry leader at the consulting firm KPMG. “They can’t afford the full cost of 25% tariffs.”

Trump’s decision to exempt many parts from Canada and Mexico will, however, ease the burden on some companies.

The auto industry accounts for about 5% of Mexico’s gross domestic product and employs around 1 million people in the country. Vehicles and parts are by far Mexico’s largest exports to the United States.

“Little by little, this haze is clearing up,” Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s economy minister, said at an event with business leaders and diplomats Wednesday. “What we are going to face is a situation that is not as disadvantageous as perhaps many expected it to be.”

But Lana Payne, president of Unifor, Canada’s main automotive labor union, said that most of Canada’s parts are installed into vehicles assembled in that country. Those vehicles will still be hit with tariffs when they are exported to the United States.

“This partial tariff patchwork is reckless,” she said in a statement.

On Friday, General Motors said that because of tariffs it was eliminating a third shift at a pickup truck assembly line in Oshawa, Ontario. That plant will now build more trucks for Canadians, the company said. Unifor said the reduction would eliminate about 700 union jobs and was likely to cause parts makers to lay off an additional 1,200 people.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said GM’s decision is a “terrible manifestation” of the economic crisis Trump’s tariffs had created for Canada.

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The tariffs will hit some carmakers harder than others.

But even companies that make vehicles in the United States will feel the pain. Rivian builds electric pickups in Illinois but imports batteries from South Korea and China that will be subject to tariffs.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

BOSTON — After an inning in Cleveland on Wednesday during which multiple pitches weren’t called strikes that the Twins believed should have gone their way, catcher Ryan Jeffers suggested the strike zone has been called tighter this year.

There’s a reason for that.

The Athletic reported on Friday the league “negotiated a seemingly simple change in how home-plate umpires are graded and evaluated,” this winter. The change, per the report, “significantly decreased the margin of error for umpires in their evaluations — and has resulted in fewer called strikes off the edges of the plate through the same point as last season.”

Where umpires used to have a “buffer zone” around the strike zone that gave them a couple inches to work with in the way they were graded, that has now shrunk significantly.

Though the zone itself has not changed, the way it’s being called has been, and many Twins have taken notice. Jeffers said he’s noticed it on all pitches around the edges and fellow catcher Christian Vázquez said, to him, it’s been particularly pronounced on lower pitches.

“They’re not giving all the very low pitches,” Vázquez said.

Chris Paddack said pitching coach Pete Maki had alerted the starters in mid-April that the zone had “shrunk a little bit compared to last year,” as far as what was and wasn’t getting called.

“We’ve noticed that,” Paddack said. “Talking to the catchers, there’s some calls that they normally get that they’re not, so we’ve made some small adjustments, whether it’s middle of the week bullpens or looking at the outings of what calls are being called versus the ones that aren’t to make some of these adjustments.”

While Paddack said he feels there could have been some 50-50 calls that haven’t gone his way, he feels it hasn’t impacted him too much.

“I don’t think it’s affected me as far as results or my performance goes just because I’m a guy that I throw strikes,” he said. “If I’m a guy that nibbles and throws a lot of balls and crosses my fingers on some of these calls, I think it would be a different story.”

Major league teams played with the ABS (automatic ball-strike system) challenge system this spring, given the chance to dispute calls in-game as has been done in the minors for years.

It seemed to have received positive reviews and while it wasn’t instituted this season — many expect it will be next year — a couple players said they believed this change was made in preparation for that system being implemented.

“We think the umpires are getting ready for ABS, so they’re trying to get a better feel of what the zone is … consistently,” Paddack said.

Briefly

Outfielders Harrison Bader and Trevor Larnach were flipped on Friday with Bader manning right field and Larnach in left. While Fenway Park has the iconic Green Monster in left, right field, with Pesky’s Pole, is generally considered the tougher of the two at the historic ballpark. … Royce Lewis (hamstring) continued his rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul on Friday. Tuesday, when the Twins return home to host the Baltimore Orioles, seems to be the target date for his return.

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A Minnesota State Patrol trooper has been charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a victim under the age of 14, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced Friday.

State charges were filed Friday in Scott County District Court against Jeremy Plonski, 29.

“The crimes alleged are horrifying,” BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said. “This child endured unimaginable sexual abuse. We will continue our dogged pursuit of any criminal who preys on our children — our most vulnerable residents.”

Jeremy Francis Plonski (Courtesy of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office)

On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced they’d filed a federal charge of production of child pornography against Plonski. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the alleged offenses happened while Plonski was on or off duty.

“The alleged sexual abuse this child had inflicted upon them is truly unbelievable,” Scott County Attorney Ron Hocevar said. “This office will pursue all potential charges and maximum penalties available to us to hold this individual accountable. I wish to thank all of the law enforcement agencies for their excellent work on bringing this individual in to face justice and protecting our residents, particularly our children.”

Plonski became a state trooper in 2022 and is on leave, with an internal affairs investigation underway.

“The allegations in this case are appalling and indefensible,” said State Patrol Col. Christina Bogojevic in a statement on Thursday. “… No badge, no title and no position will ever place anyone above the law. Protecting the vulnerable is our duty. Anyone who violates that duty has no place in this organization or in our profession.”

The FBI investigated and thanked their partners at the FBI’s Bryan, Texas satellite office, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Shakopee police and the State Patrol “for their critical assistance in this investigation.”

Plonski remains in federal custody at the Sherburne County Jail.

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Calling criminal charges too time-consuming and heavy-handed for many infractions, St. Paul city officials have long wanted more tools to hold accountable errant landlords who let their properties lapse into disrepair, dog owners whose canines wander loose through their neighborhood and other scofflaws.

After revisiting the question at least three times over the last decade, the St. Paul Charter Commission last December supported amending the city charter to allow the city council to impose administrative citations, or non-criminal fines and civil penalties for those who break city ordinances.

The city council took up the issue soon after and unanimously approved the same change to the city charter in January.

The next stop for administrative citations? The November ballot.

On the ballot

Opponents of administrative citations have obtained upwards of the 2,000 petition signatures needed to stall the proposed charter amendment and force it onto the city’s public ballot this fall, putting the question of a charter change before St. Paul voters during what’s likely to be a low turnout election.

“Many people signing the petition were not immediately for or against, but it was ‘this is something that residents should consider,’” said Peter Butler, who organized the petition drive. “It’s really for the voters to approve that power, not for the city to assume it on its own.”

Peter Butler. (Courtesy of the candidate)

The city council has yet to approve the official language that will appear on the city ballot, but the council last week did acknowledge the 2,000-signature petition threshold was met when it approved a separate resolution allowing more time to assemble a legislative advisory committee to create a framework around administrative citations.

The April 23 resolution language noted that “a petition requesting a referendum … was delivered to the office of the City Clerk” on March 24, and on April 15 “the City Clerk certified that the petition has the sufficient number of signatures required” by state statute.

Butler said he worked with a group of about 15 volunteers to amass some 2,400 signatures to get the question on the ballot, though at least 200 signatures were thrown out by Ramsey County Elections, often for minor discrepancies with the voter rolls, such as an abbreviated first name, he said. Signatures were tossed, for instance, because they were spelled “Mike” instead of “Michael,” Butler said.

Still, by statute, only 2,000 signatures were needed to move forward. To approve administrative citations, the Nov. 4 election will require a simple majority of votes. Blank votes will be disregarded and will not count toward the total.

While the ballot question is intended to be neutral, Butler acknowledged he’s personally no fan of administrative citations, a proposal that went before the charter commission three times in about eight years before gaining legs.

“I don’t think it will have the effect that people are saying it will,” said Butler, pointing to a series of downtown St. Paul properties owned by Madison Equities that have fallen into disrepair, condemnation or court-ordered receivership. “A company that can’t even pay its utility bills is not going to care about a city fine. The real bad actors probably aren’t going to care what the city does to them.”

‘A flexible tool’

St. Paul City Council President Rebecca Noecker on Tuesday said council members are unlikely to comment on an open ballot question, except to say the council’s support for administrative citations was unanimous.

Rebecca Noecker. (Courtesy of the City of St. Paul)

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, who also will appear on the November ballot as he seeks a third term in office, has pushed for the implementation of administrative citations since early in his tenure.

“Administrative citations offer a flexible tool to address code violations sooner, while reducing reliance on criminal penalties,” said Carter, in a written statement last October. “This measure would enhance compliance in a way that prioritizes education and accountability, aligning with our vision for a more just and responsive city government.”

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Directors in the city’s Department of Safety and Inspections, Public Works and other areas of City Hall noted that 24 of the state’s 25 largest cities have relied upon various types of administrative citations for years. Brooklyn Center, Hopkins, Minneapolis and Woodbury all use civil penalties to enforce different aspects of their city code.

During public hearings last winter, some of the most vocal proponents of administrative citations were worker and renters’ rights groups, who said they have limited immediate recourse when an employer fails to offer paid sick time or a landlord hikes rents above what’s allowed under the city’s rent control ordinance, refuses to fix a toilet or leaves tenants sweltering in the summer heat without operable air conditioning.

Still, some of the same individuals who stand to gain from administrative citations may bear the burden in other ways. Given that much of St. Paul’s housing stock is more than 100 years old, critics worry that city departments will attempt to balance their cash-strapped budgets by fining low-to-moderate income homeowners for commonplace issues, like chipped paint or tall grass, instead of large corporate property owners.

In those instances, fines might land more heavily on low-income parts of the city and communities of color.

Hearing process, guardrails

In response, the St. Paul City Council has emphasized that each new type of administrative citation will go through its own hearing process before the council, and each will have its own fine schedule.

They’ve also created other guardrails. As a result of the April 23 resolution, within 90 days of the ballot measure’s approval, a legislative advisory committee must provide a written report to the city council on an “equitable implementation framework” for citations.

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The committee must be composed of an individual with an academic background in city enforcement, a representative of a labor union, an attorney or someone with legal background in the area, a district council representative, a community expert on fines and fees, a member of the city’s new Reparations Commission, an independent research organization and city staff.

In addition, each department that produces administrative citations will be required to report back to the city council annually on how many were issued, the types of infractions involved and how the money was spent. The report is expected to include “to the extent possible, data collection on demographic impacts,” according to the council resolution.