Trump tariffs take a $1 billion bite out of GM earnings

GENERAL Motors' second-quarter core profit fell 32% to $3 billion on Tuesday, as the automaker continued to confront challenging tariff policies, which it said sapped $1.1 billion from the results.

The automaker's revenue in the quarter ended June 30 fell nearly 2% to about $47 billion from a year ago. Its quarterly adjusted earnings per share fell to $2.53 compared with $3.06 a year earlier.

Analysts on average expected the company to notch a quarterly adjusted profit of $2.44 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. Shares of the company fell about 3% in premarket trade.

The largest U.S. automaker by sales said it expects the tariff impact to worsen in the third quarter and stuck to a previous estimate that trade headwinds threaten to hit the bottom line by $4 billion to $5 billion. GM said it could take steps to mitigate at least 30% of that impact.

GM was among the many corporations to pull its annual guidance as it evaluated the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, but eventually reinstated it to a lower annual adjusted core profit of between $10 billion and $12.5 billion. The company on Tuesday stood by that guidance.

Beyond tariffs, GM’s underlying business in the quarter was solid. Sales in the U.S. market – its main profit center – rose 7%, while the company continued to command strong pricing on its pickup trucks and SUVs. GM swung back to a small profit in China, after losing money there a year earlier.