BMW Canada is making ready to restart imports of its U.S.-built SUVs, despite the fact that these autos face one of many steepest tariff penalties within the auto trade. In keeping with Automotive Information, sellers in Canada say shipments of the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7 and XM from BMW’s plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina will resume within the coming weeks. Deliveries stopped this spring after Ottawa responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariff on international car imports with its personal 25 per cent levy on American-built vehicles.
The pause rapidly drained stock. A number of retailers stated their provide of Spartanburg-built fashions is now nearly gone, leaving them with little to supply in BMW’s hottest phase. The X1 and X2, constructed outdoors the U.S., stay unaffected. BMW Canada declined to substantiate the restart instantly. In a written assertion for Automotive Information, spokesperson Barb Pitblado stated the corporate is “actively exploring a number of avenues to make sure regular car provide” however supplied no additional element.
Core Merchandise Caught in Tariff Dispute
The halt minimize deep into BMW’s Canadian lineup. The X3 and X5 had been the model’s two best-selling fashions in 2024, with 7,128 and 4,489 items bought, based on the Automotive Information Analysis & Knowledge Middle. U.S.-assembled autos made up almost half of the corporate’s Canadian quantity that 12 months. By the second quarter of 2025, gross sales of the X3 and X5 had fallen 25 per cent 12 months over 12 months. U.S.-built fashions accounted for 38.3 per cent of BMW Canada’s whole gross sales within the quarter, down from 51.1 per cent a 12 months earlier.
Development From Abroad Fashions
Regardless of the hit, BMW Canada nonetheless posted a 5.3 per cent total gross sales improve in Q2. Imports from Europe — led by the X1, i4 and three Collection — crammed a number of the hole. Sellers, nevertheless, confused that the X3 and X5 stay the spine of their enterprise, usually representing greater than half of retailer quantity. There are additionally indicators that the Canadian market will achieve yet another mannequin within the close to future – the plug-in hybrid BMW X3 which is manufactured in South Africa.
Resuming imports means absorbing a heavy tariff load. The Spartanburg-built X fashions don’t qualify below the United States-Mexico-Canada Settlement as a result of they include solely about one-third North American content material. Engines and transmissions shipped in from Europe preserve them far under the 75 per cent threshold, stated Sam Fiorani, vice-president at AutoForecast Options.
That leaves the autos uncovered twice: first to U.S. tariffs of 25 per cent on imported elements, after which to Canada’s 25 per cent countertariff plus a 6.1 per cent most-favored nation obligation. Mixed, the burden is roughly 31.1 per cent. On a $100,000 SUV, tariffs alone add round $31,100.
Greater Costs Forward
To handle the prices, BMW Canada plans to boost costs throughout its whole lineup, sellers stated. As an alternative of pushing the will increase solely onto the U.S.-built fashions, the corporate will unfold them evenly, that means even tariff-free autos will see greater sticker costs.
[Source: Automotive News]
