Ford discloses an additional $900 million in tariff losses

　　The Trump administration dealt Ford Motor Company a $900 million tariff blow at the end of 2025.

　　On Tuesday, Ford stated that US officials notified the company in December that a tariff relief program announced in October would be retroactive only to November, not fully retroactive to May as the automaker had previously expected.

　　“We were only informed of this unexpected change by the Trump administration very late in the year,” Ford's Chief Financial Officer said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings announcement.

　　This year-end shock nearly doubled Ford's expected total tariffs and marked the end of a special period—the quarter in which Ford posted its largest quarterly loss in history: $11.1 billion, mainly due to previously announced impairment charges related to its electric vehicle business.

　　This loss stands in stark contrast to the $1.8 billion profit in the same period last year. Led by its CEO, Ford reported quarterly revenue of $45.9 billion, down 5% year-over-year.

　　For the full year, Ford reported a net loss of $8.2 billion, compared to a profit of $5.9 billion in 2024; full-year revenue was $187.3 billion, up 1% year-over-year.

　　In December, Ford announced it planned to record a $19.5 billion impairment to scale back operations due to declining demand for electric vehicles. Now, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep, have together announced over $50 billion in impairment charges, all slowing their electrification expansion plans.

　　Despite suffering huge losses and a sudden tariff shock, Ford’s performance still exceeded Wall Street’s expectations for both profit and revenue. The automaker expects profits to rise and cash flow to improve this year, while electric vehicle business losses are expected to narrow.

　　Ford’s stock price rose 1.6% in after-hours trading.

　　Ford’s Chief Financial Officer stated that Ford’s electric vehicle business will continue to lose money through 2029.

　　Last year, Ford’s tariff expenses were about $2 billion, and the company expects similar spending in 2026. If not for a fire at the supplier for the aluminum used in its best-selling F-Series pickup, this figure would have been lower. The fire shut down a key Novelis factory in New York, forcing Ford to import large quantities of aluminum subject to high tariffs until the plant resumes full production—Ford expects this to happen between May and September.

　　Ford had lobbied heavily for the tariff relief program, which allows manufacturers to apply for credits to offset tariffs on imported parts used in US vehicle production. As the automaker with the most US-based production, the program’s delayed implementation hit Ford particularly hard.

Editor: He Yun