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If the Oscars tell us the best movies of the year, there’s always the Razzies to honor the worst. And if earnings reports can tell us who’s winning amidst a global trade war, they can also tell us who’s losing.
Enter a new loser in the tariff saga: General Motors, which reported a $1.1 billion hit from tariffs in the latest quarter. Yes, billion. That sent GM’s profit plummeting in Q2 by more than a third.
In May, GM lowered its full-year profit guidance, saying it expected to face from $4 billion to $5 billion in tariff-related costs over the course of the year. In its latest earnings report, the company affirmed its guidance, but said it anticipates a larger tariff hit in Q3 than in the latest quarter “due to timing of indirect tariff costs.”
For Q2, profit came in at $1.9 billion, declining from $2.9 billion in Q2 2024.
Despite the apparent doom and gloom, General Motors stressed that it was “making solid progress” toward its goal of mitigating “at least 30%” of the tariff impact “through manufacturing adjustments, targeted cost initiatives, and consistent pricing.”
And if the company is sweating, it’s not letting it show. “We’ve got a longer-term plan to be able to mitigate a substantial part of this,” CFO Paul Jacobson said in reference to tariffs during the company’s earnings call. “We’re obviously looking for things to normalize around these trade deals that will get done, and we expect that will happen.”
GM is far from the only automaker struggling with tariff costs. Earlier this week, Stellantis, which makes Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram cars and trucks, reported a $2.7 billion loss, which it attributed in part to tariffs and other Republican policies.
So hey, it could always be worse.