Auto dealership owner David Kelleher told Fox Business that nobody would buy his Ram trucks after President Donald Trump ordered 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
During an interview on Tuesday, Kelleher explained to correspondent Jeff Flock that he expected a "dramatic" downturn in sales over the tariffs.
"I sold over for a customer, $80,000 truck," the auto dealer said. "It's $100,000 now. So he's not going to buy the truck. It's going to sit on my lot."
"You know, the higher interest rates we're paying right now for floor plan, and nobody's going to buy the truck because it just had a $20,000 price increase," he continued. "It's a 25% tariff. So that affects our parts that come from over these countries and a whole bunch of our cars."
"And you've been basing your business model on free trade, basically," Flock noted.
"But think about it," Kelleher agreed. "We built our business around that. The OEMs built their business around that. And now it changes on a dime, and we can't build a four billion dollar plant overnight in the United States."
"So I think building in the United States is great," he added. "But we — this is pretty radical."
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Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo responded by complaining that Ram trucks weren't popular in Europe.
"How many Dodge Rams do you see driving around Europe?" she exclaimed. "I mean, not many. I bet. Why? Because they don't buy our cars. And that's what President Trump is trying to change."
