Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Thursday, March 27.
Ontario's premier said he wants to "inflict as much pain as possible" on the U.S. The head of Europe's auto supplier group said the decision to impose tariffs "is misguided and harmful for everyone — including the U.S. itself."
The expected worldwide condemnation of President Donald Trump's 25 percent tariffs on light-vehicle imports arrived loud and clear this morning. But even late last night, Trump's message to the rest of the world was that he would not tolerate any coordinated retaliatory attacks on the U.S. economy.
Read more: Live updates on tariff news and impacts
Trump, in a Truth Social post, said large-scale tariffs "far larger than currently planned" would be placed on collaborating nations in such a scenario, Bloomberg reported.
"If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!" Trump posted.
Is all this a bluff designed to get more concessions? Trump previously threatened to double certain tariffs on Canada in response to Ontario's plan to tax electricity exports to the U.S. Ontario backed off the next day.
Meanwhile, few companies stand to benefit from the tariffs more than Tesla Inc., which has almost zero exposure in the U.S. market. Elon Musk's company, however, could face retaliation in Europe, China and Canada. Musk and Tesla also must grapple with the festering anger in the U.S. over his government efficiency efforts for Trump. We'll know more about the impact on Tesla's U.S. sales when the next batch of registration figures comes out.
From Georgia, Hyundai Motor Co. CEO Jose Muñoz told reporters on Wednesday the company will remain flexible as it hustles to increase production capacity and strengthen its supply chain in the face of Trump's tariffs.
"We've been flexible before, we will be flexible now," Muñoz said in our story by Carly Schaffner. Hyundai's Korean parent, Hyundai Motor Group, won points earlier this week with Trump with plans for $21 billion in new U.S. investments.
Our coverage going forward will continue to stay on top of all the tariff controversies.
It's a good bet that this looming trade war between the U.S. and its allies will get worse before it gets better.
In non-tariff news today, GMC said in this story by Lindsay VanHulle that it is adding entry-level and off-road versions of the electric Sierra full-size pickup for the 2026 model year, rounding out a lineup that launched first at the top end.
That's it for now. Have a great rest of your day.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
