Georgian car business is awaiting the U.S. President’s decision. If Donald Trump imposes tariffs of around 25% on auto imports , which he is already actively considering, it will affect the cost of imports from United States significantly. As Trump notes, 25 percent will be the base rate that will increase depending on the country.
As Alexander Vekua, Commercial Director of Caucasus Auto Import, states, even though additional taxes does not apply to exports from the United States, teу decision will still have a direct impact on the Georgian market.
"The introduction of a 25% duty on cars imported to the United States from abroad, including Korea, Japan and the EU countries, will definitely lead to new cars price hikes in the United States, which will automatically increase demand for used cars." Accordingly, their prices will also increase. "In the medium term, all this will affect Georgia, approximately from 6 months to 1 year, since used cars are mainly brought to our country from this country," the commercial director at Caucasus Auto Import points out.
According to Sakstan preliminary data, in January 2025, passenger cars took first place in the top ten export categories among commodity groups with $130.0 million that is 32.2 percent of the total exports.
In January 2025, passenger cars worth up to $151 million were imported into Georgia that is a 23% decline compared to January 2018. The main importing country is traditionally the USA, from which 6,675 cars worth $84.5 million were imported in January 2025. Japan is secon, Germany is on the third place.
