Automakers are threatening that their affordable vehicles will disappear entirely if the Trump administration walks away from the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement or dilutes it significantly. Affordable cars for Americans may be caught in the middle of a much larger trade fight, and automakers are starting to say the quiet part out loud. According to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, several foreign manufacturers have told officials in the Trump administration that entry-level models could be yanked from the American market if USMCA is allowed to expire. Automakers have said the trade deal is crucial to American auto production. The obvious concerns are tied to rising production and material costs thanks to tariffs and supply chain chaos across the region. 2027 Kia Seltos: All the Details For brands like Nissan, Hyundai, Toyota, and Honda, those lower-priced cars depend heavily on a supply chain that stretches across all three countries. But it's not just the foreign players; even the domestics are heavily exposed to cross-border supply chains. Although Detroit's automakers have largely stepped away from small cars in recent years, leaving the affordable end of the market to foreign brands. Models like the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra, and Hyundai Venue now carry most of the weight. Many of them are assembled in the U.S. or Mexico, but rely on components that move freely across borders under the current rules. Eight of the ten cheapest new vehicles sold in the U.S. come from foreign automakers. USMCA, signed in 2020, was designed to keep production integrated across North America. Undoing that structure, even partially, changes the math-especially for cars built on tight margins. The administration already introduced a 25 percent levy on non-U.S. content in vehicles that previously qualified for duty-free treatment under USMCA. The average price of a new vehicle in the U.S. is hovering around $50,000. The handful of cars still starting in the low-$20,000 range are often the last accessible option for buyers who are mostly priced out of the new vehicle market. Who knows if the administration even really cares. From its perspective, the goal is to bring more manufacturing back to the U.S., and officials have framed the tariffs as a way to create breathing room for companies willing to shift production stateside, backed by tax incentives. But that transition isn't quick, and might not even be feasible as we quickly head towards the third year of Trump's presidency. Automakers argue that without a stable, tariff-free framework across North America, building those cars in the U.S. simply doesn't make financial sense. Labor costs, material prices, and existing investments in cross-border production all work against moving production. Rather than argue with math, some automakers could just pull the plug on some models or trims. 2027 Mercedes-Maybach S-Class: All the Details