US automaker General Motors (GM) expects to receive a $500mn refund for a tranche of tariffs annulled by the US Supreme Court this year.
The refund will lower GM's 2026 tariff bill from $3bn-4bn to $2.5bn-3.5bn, the Detroit-based automaker said in its first-quarter earnings call on 28 April. While some of the tariffs imposed by US president Donald Trump's International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) have been struck down, automobile and metals tariffs remain in place and account for GM's considerable expected tariff bill.
The US-Israel conflict with Iran is also a major factor affecting costs, GM chief executive Mary Barra said during Tuesday's earnings call. Prices for energy, metals and freight have gone up because of the war, adding about $500mn in expected costs for GM this year, Barra said.
However, rising gas prices as a result of the war have not yet had an impact on demand for full-size pickup trucks and other internal combustion engine vehicles, GM said. But the longer the war goes on, the more likely demand wanes for large gas-powered trucks, the company said.
GM's total vehicle sales in the first quarter fell to 1.3mn units, down by 11pc compared with the first three months of 2025. US sales fell by 10pc to 626,000 vehicles in the quarter compared with a year earlier. GM attributed part of the US sales decline to maintenance downtime at one of its full-size pickup plants, as well as to lower imports into the US of GM vehicles assembled in South Korea.
GM reported a $2.6bn profit in the first quarter, down from $2.8bn in the first quarter of 2025.
